Analysts Set Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) PT at $22.30

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.30.

EBC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total transaction of $216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,064.70. This represents a 51.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO R David Rosato acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.17 per share, for a total transaction of $95,850.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,650. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,138,000 after buying an additional 2,440,017 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,018,000 after acquiring an additional 3,407,066 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,552,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,048,000 after acquiring an additional 939,740 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,919,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 185.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,437,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,835,474 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC opened at $19.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.37 and a beta of 0.81. Eastern Bankshares has a twelve month low of $13.51 and a twelve month high of $22.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.00.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $290.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.09 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 8.32%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.83%.

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.