Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $25.14 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Six of nine analysts rate Eastern Bankshares a buy and three rate it hold; the average 12-month price target is $25.14, versus a recent share price of $22.84.
• Quarterly results topped expectations: The company reported earnings of $0.51 per share, ahead of the $0.49 consensus, and revenue of $311.69 million, slightly above forecasts.
• Eastern Bankshares declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 2.6%.

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.14.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Stephens cut shares of Eastern Bankshares from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. DA Davidson set a $26.00 price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.84. 1,313,686 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,265,422. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.70. Eastern Bankshares has a 52 week low of $17.03 and a 52 week high of $23.78.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 24.04%. The firm had revenue of $311.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $310.60 million. Research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Investors of record on Monday, December 7th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is 34.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastern Bankshares news, insider Donald Westermann sold 23,005 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.43, for a total value of $492,997.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $483,567.95. The trade was a 50.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Casey sold 1,778 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.69, for a total value of $40,342.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 60,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,368,229.69. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 65,190 shares of company stock valued at $1,452,900 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $498,672,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,124,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $269,652,000 after buying an additional 3,603,128 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,846,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,912,000 after buying an additional 1,535,094 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,188,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,479,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

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 banks in the United States to have converted to public ownership.

Eastern Bank provides a range of personal and business banking products, including checking and savings accounts, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, commercial loans, cash-management services and online banking.

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