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

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.86.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EBC. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Eastern Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price 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.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.4%

EBC opened at $21.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.86 and its 200-day moving average is $21.35. Eastern Bankshares has a 1-year low of $16.61 and a 1-year high of $23.77.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 EPS 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 net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%. Equities research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 34.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total value of $227,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 62,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,410,434.88. This represents a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Donald Westermann sold 23,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.43, for a total value of $492,997.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $483,567.95. The trade was a 50.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 65,190 shares of company stock valued at $1,452,900 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EBC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $498,672,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 42.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,124,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603,128 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 28.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,846,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,535,094 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth $38,188,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth $37,479,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.