Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Price Target Raised to $24.00

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) had its price objective hoisted by TD Cowen from $23.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Hovde Group started coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.13.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of EBC stock opened at $19.93 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.61 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Eastern Bankshares has a twelve month low of $13.51 and a twelve month high of $20.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.79.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $243.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 8.32%. Equities analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 322,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total transaction of $6,142,332.13. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 36,112 shares in the company, valued at $687,211.36. This represents a 89.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EBC. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth about $79,534,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,680,000. FJ Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth $17,721,000. Azora Capital LP boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,597,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,151,000 after buying an additional 916,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 48.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,601,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,220,000 after acquiring an additional 847,891 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States. Founded in 1818 as Salem Savings Bank and later rebranded as Eastern Bank in 1989, the company preserved its mutual ownership structure for more than two centuries. In March 2020, it completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker EBC, while continuing to emphasize its community-focused heritage.

Through its primary subsidiary, Eastern Bank, the company delivers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking products.