Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Short Interest Up 12.8% in January

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, a growth of 12.8% from the December 31st total of 3,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 940,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 67,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,791.04. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $25,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1,155.9% during the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.6 %

EBC stock traded down $0.29 on Monday, hitting $18.07. 869,158 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,012,265. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 0.94. Eastern Bankshares has a 1-year low of $12.22 and a 1-year high of $19.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.70 and a 200-day moving average of $16.99.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.64%.

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. The company provides deposit accounts, interest checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit accounts.