Brokerages Set Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Target Price at $17.67

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.67.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ EBC opened at $13.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.23 and a beta of 0.76. Eastern Bankshares has a one year low of $9.93 and a one year high of $21.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.77.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $195.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.17 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 25.57%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -129.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter worth about $236,000. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter worth about $1,704,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,061,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,555,000 after acquiring an additional 434,145 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Northstar Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 46.2% in the first quarter. Northstar Asset Management Inc. now owns 388,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,902,000 after acquiring an additional 122,713 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.03% of the company’s stock.

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. It operates in two segments, Banking Business and Insurance Agency Business. The company provides deposit accounts, interest checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit accounts.