Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Now Covered by Analysts at DA Davidson

DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on EBC. Stephens assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.92.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of EBC stock opened at $19.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.75 and a 200-day moving average of $19.45. Eastern Bankshares has a one year low of $14.10 and a one year high of $22.58.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 26.28%.The business had revenue of $295.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.68 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 5,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $862,650. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 533.3% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 1,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

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.