Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Price Target Raised to $25.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $23.00 to $25.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price indicates a potential upside of 8.34% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on EBC. Hovde Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (up from $23.50) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday. Stephens started coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $23.07. 1,091,114 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,532,649. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Eastern Bankshares has a 1-year low of $14.88 and a 1-year high of $23.53. The firm has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.67.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $316.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.20 million. Analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total value of $38,834.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,987.25. The trade was a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,138,000 after buying an additional 2,440,017 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 249.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,810,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,857 shares during the period. Algebris UK Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 624,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,514,000 after acquiring an additional 111,811 shares during the last quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter worth $1,153,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,275,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,498,000 after acquiring an additional 275,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

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.