Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $311.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.60 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 25.12%.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of EBC stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $22.11. 3,315,484 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,495,339. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $21.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.37. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.70. Eastern Bankshares has a 1 year low of $16.61 and a 1 year high of $23.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Donald Westermann sold 23,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.43, for a total value of $492,997.15. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at $483,567.95. This represents a 50.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 1,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.69, for a total transaction of $40,342.82. Following the sale, the director directly owned 60,301 shares in the company, valued at $1,368,229.69. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,190 shares of company stock worth $1,452,900. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Stephens downgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.86.

About Eastern Bankshares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc (NASDAQ:EBC) is the holding company for Eastern Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1818, Eastern Bank is one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States to have converted to public ownership.

Eastern Bank provides a range of personal and business banking products, including checking and savings accounts, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, commercial loans, cash-management services and online banking.