R David Rosato Purchases 5,000 Shares of Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) CFO R David Rosato acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.17 per share, for a total transaction of $95,850.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,650. This represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $18.98. The company had a trading volume of 2,333,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,164,429. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.78. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.29 and a beta of 0.81. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.51 and a twelve month high of $22.58.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.25%. The firm had revenue of $290.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. Analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 126.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on EBC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HoldCo Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter worth $79,534,000. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 6.2% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,547,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,094,000 after acquiring an additional 89,890 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter valued at about $1,293,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth about $34,680,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth about $1,332,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.