Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Now Covered by Barclays

Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock.

EBC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Cowen initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.67.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $18.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $13.51 and a fifty-two week high of $20.19. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 75.88 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 322,771 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 36,112 shares in the company, valued at $687,211.36. The trade was a 89.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Francis Rivers bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.21 per share, for a total transaction of $860,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 403,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,940,345.54. This trade represents a 14.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EBC. HoldCo Asset Management LP bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $79,534,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,680,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 15.7% in the first 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. FJ Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $17,721,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 54.5% in the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,597,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,151,000 after purchasing an additional 916,875 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is 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.