Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Key Points

• Barclays raised Eastern Bankshares’ price target to $23 from $22 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying 8.41% upside from the $21.21 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $24.86; several firms recently increased their targets to $25–$26.
• Eastern Bankshares exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.49 in EPS versus a $0.46 estimate and $316.01 million in revenue versus $308.20 million expected.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at Barclays from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Barclays's price target indicates a potential upside of 8.41% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on EBC. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group increased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Stephens lowered 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 1.2%

EBC stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $21.21. The stock had a trading volume of 478,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,493,817. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.19. Eastern Bankshares has a 52-week low of $16.61 and a 52-week high of $23.77.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $316.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $308.20 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 1,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Donald Westermann sold 23,005 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.43, for a total transaction of $492,997.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at $483,567.95. This trade represents a 50.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,190 shares of company stock worth $1,452,900. Insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EBC. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,066,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth $1,074,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,447,779 shares of the company's stock worth $28,319,000 after acquiring an additional 289,458 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $21,957,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,708,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

About Eastern Bankshares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc NASDAQ: EBC is the holding company for Eastern Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1818, Eastern Bank is one of the oldest and largest mutual bank franchises in the United States before becoming a publicly traded company in 2020.

Eastern Bank provides banking and financial services to businesses, organizations, professionals and individual consumers. Its offerings include commercial and residential lending, business and personal deposit accounts, cash-management and treasury services, consumer banking, mortgage services, wealth management and investment services.

The company primarily serves communities in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire through a network of banking offices and digital banking channels.

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