Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $23.78 and last traded at $23.4820, with a volume of 182,838 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EBC has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Eastern Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 23rd. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens downgraded Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.14.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.10.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $311.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.60 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 9.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.48%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, insider Donald Westermann sold 23,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.43, for a total transaction of $492,997.15. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $483,567.95. The trade was a 50.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total transaction of $227,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 62,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,410,434.88. This trade represents a 13.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 65,190 shares of company stock valued at $1,452,900 over the last ninety days. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EBC. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth $5,066,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,074,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,124,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603,128 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,447,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,319,000 after acquiring an additional 289,458 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,708,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

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.