Short Interest in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Grows By 19.5%

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,200,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the February 13th total of 4,350,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC opened at $16.58 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.35. Eastern Bankshares has a twelve month low of $12.22 and a twelve month high of $19.40. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75 and a beta of 0.95.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. Analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,000. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EBC. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.