Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Now Covered by Piper Sandler

Analysts at Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) in a report issued on Monday. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 21.05% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on EBC. Barclays began coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Hovde Group began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.30.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of EBC stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $19.00. 147,071 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,085,378. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.87. Eastern Bankshares has a twelve month low of $13.51 and a twelve month high of $22.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.35 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total transaction of $427,458.16. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,860 shares in the company, valued at $419,494.60. This trade represents a 50.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO R David Rosato purchased 5,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.17 per share, with a total value of $95,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,650. The trade was a 12.50% 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 Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth $79,534,000. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,547,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,094,000 after buying an additional 89,890 shares during the period. Fourthstone LLC acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,293,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth $34,680,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth $1,332,000. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

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.