Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Receives $22.92 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.9167.

EBC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Stephens initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.17 per share, for a total transaction of $95,850.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,650. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 185.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,437,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,835,474 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,018,000 after acquiring an additional 3,407,066 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440,017 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,548,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,846,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,535,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

EBC opened at $19.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.54. Eastern Bankshares has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $22.58. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $295.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.68 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 26.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. Equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.21%.

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.