Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $17.99 and last traded at $17.96, with a volume of 164697 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 9.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.76%. The business had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.97%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

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.