Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Receives $15.25 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the three research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.25.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 2.9 %

EBC opened at $12.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Eastern Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $9.93 and a fifty-two week high of $15.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.85.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $230.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.52 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 49.59% and a return on equity of 5.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.44%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 40,288 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.08, for a total value of $526,967.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,040 shares in the company, valued at $549,883.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,926,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,474,000 after buying an additional 1,979,113 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,480,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,566,000 after acquiring an additional 66,050 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth $854,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 0.5% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 249,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,367,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,244,000 after purchasing an additional 100,820 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Eastern Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to retail, commercial, and small business customers. The company provides deposit accounts, interest checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit accounts.