Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.9167.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EBC. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 768,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,034,000 after buying an additional 121,884 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 30.6% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 267,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,237,000 after buying an additional 62,679 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 130.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 115,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,264,000 after buying an additional 65,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 378.4% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 213,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,180,000 after buying an additional 169,031 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $20.59 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.76. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.69. Eastern Bankshares has a 12-month low of $14.10 and a 12-month high of $22.58.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.68 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 26.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. Research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.71%.

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.