Barclays Cuts Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Price Target to $22.00

Key Points

• Barclays cut its price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and kept an "equal weight" rating, with the new target implying about a 10.97% upside from the stock's current price.
• Quarterly results missed estimates: Eastern reported $0.40 EPS vs. $0.44 expected and revenue of $295.9M vs. $308.68M, while analysts forecast roughly $1.92 EPS for the year.
• The stock traded around $19.83 (50-day MA $19.95, 200-day MA $19.32) with a $4.65B market cap; CFO R. David Rosato bought 5,000 shares

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by analysts at Barclays from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Barclays's price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.97% from the stock's current price.

EBC has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $22.50 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.58.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 0.4%

EBC traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $19.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,699,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,139,484. Eastern Bankshares has a 52-week low of $14.10 and a 52-week high of $22.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.32. The firm has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 26.28%.The company had revenue of $295.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.68 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO R David Rosato bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.17 per share, with a total value of $95,850.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,650. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total transaction of $427,458.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $419,494.60. This represents a 50.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,547,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,094,000 after buying an additional 89,890 shares during the last quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 23.0% in the third quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 6,408,772 shares of the company's stock worth $116,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,272 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth approximately $1,332,000. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,298,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 7.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,393,923 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,300,000 after buying an additional 95,731 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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