Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.30.

Several brokerages have commented on EBC. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Hovde Group started coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:EBC traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.23. 353,938 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,090,862. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.16 and a 200 day moving average of $18.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Eastern Bankshares has a twelve month low of $13.51 and a twelve month high of $22.58. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.89 and a beta of 0.81.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $290.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.09 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.25%. On average, analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.17 per share, for a total transaction of $95,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $862,650. This represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total transaction of $216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,064.70. The trade was a 51.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EBC. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $79,534,000. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,547,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,094,000 after buying an additional 89,890 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,293,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,680,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth $1,332,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.