Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock Gets Price Target Bump from Barclays

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Barclays from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.49% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Hovde Group boosted their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

EBC opened at $21.20 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.70. Eastern Bankshares has a 52-week low of $16.61 and a 52-week high of $23.77.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 1,778 shares of the company’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 value of $40,342.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 60,301 shares in the company, valued at $1,368,229.69. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Donald Westermann sold 23,005 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 65,190 shares of company stock worth $1,452,900 in the last three months. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EBC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 14,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,975 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors 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 bank franchises in the United States before becoming a publicly traded company in 2020.

Eastern Bank provides banking and financial services to businesses, organizations, professionals and individual consumers. Its offerings include commercial and residential lending, business and personal deposit accounts, cash-management and treasury services, consumer banking, mortgage services, wealth management and investment services.

The company primarily serves communities in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire through a network of banking offices and digital banking channels.