Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $24.86 According to Analysts

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.86.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 0.8%

EBC opened at $21.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Eastern Bankshares has a 52 week low of $16.61 and a 52 week high of $23.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.10. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.66.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $316.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 25.12%. On average, research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 34.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 1,778 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.69, for a total value of $40,342.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 60,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,368,229.69. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total value of $38,834.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,987.25. The trade was a 7.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 68,609 shares of company stock valued at $1,529,281 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth about $498,672,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 42.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,124,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,603,128 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 28.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,846,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,535,094 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,427,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,050,000 after purchasing an additional 592,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,188,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Eastern Bankshares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, a full-service financial institution headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Eastern Bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, nonprofit organizations and municipalities, with a focus on communities in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

The bank offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, small-business banking, cash-management services, digital and mobile banking, wealth management and trust services.