Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Announces $0.15 Quarterly Dividend

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Tuesday, September 22nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th.

Eastern Bankshares has a dividend payout ratio of 31.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Eastern Bankshares to earn $2.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.6%.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of EBC stock opened at $22.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.43. 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 has a 1-year low of $14.88 and a 1-year high of $23.53.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $316.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 26.28%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.08.

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.