Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.9167.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, June 8th. Stephens assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, March 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $20.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Eastern Bankshares has a one year low of $14.10 and a one year high of $22.58. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.84. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.69.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.68 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EBC. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 38.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,254,000 after buying an additional 54,664 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $954,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 114,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 5,028 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 7.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 432,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,091,000 after purchasing an additional 29,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 789.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 545,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,948,000 after purchasing an additional 484,277 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.