Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

EBC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Barclays set a $22.00 target price on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.67.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $19.14 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.56 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.93. Eastern Bankshares has a 1 year low of $13.51 and a 1 year high of $20.19.

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

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 208.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, insider Robert Francis Rivers bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.21 per share, for a total transaction of $860,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 403,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,940,345.54. The trade was a 14.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO R David Rosato bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.08 per share, for a total transaction of $170,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $512,400. This trade represents a 50.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is currently 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 the business. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter worth approximately $169,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter worth $8,768,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,019,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,206 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,847,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,297,000 after purchasing an additional 91,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter valued at about $177,000. 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.