Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Director Sells 1,778 Shares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Director Joseph Casey sold 1,778 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.69, for a total value of $40,342.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 60,301 shares in the company, valued at $1,368,229.69. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,255,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,524,554. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.95. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.61 and a 1 year high of $23.77. The company has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 25.12%.The business had revenue of $316.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.20 million. Research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EBC. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth $498,672,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 2,062.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,790,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,776,000 after acquiring an additional 5,522,534 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 185.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,437,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,835,474 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% in the fourth 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. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440,017 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

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.