Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $19.34 and last traded at $19.2950, with a volume of 325167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EBC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Cowen began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 2.8%

The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.44 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.76.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 4.97% and a return on equity of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $162.26 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 208.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 322,771 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total transaction of $6,142,332.13. Following the transaction, the director owned 36,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,211.36. The trade was a 89.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert Francis Rivers bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.21 per share, with a total value of $860,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 403,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,940,345.54. The trade was a 14.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 8,112.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,947 shares during the period. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 90.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.