Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• Eastern Bankshares beat quarterly expectations: The company reported EPS of $0.51, above the $0.49 consensus estimate, while revenue of $311.70 million modestly exceeded forecasts of $310.60 million.
• Shares rose following the results: EBC traded at $22.11, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.05 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive: Six analysts rate the stock a Buy and three rate it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $24.86, although insiders sold roughly $1.45 million in shares over the past 90 days.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $311.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.60 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EBC traded up $0.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $22.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,315,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,495,339. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.79 and a 200-day moving average of $21.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Eastern Bankshares has a 12 month low of $16.61 and a 12 month high of $23.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EBC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens lowered shares of Eastern Bankshares from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Eastern Bankshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 23rd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Donald Westermann sold 23,005 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $483,567.95. The trade was a 50.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph F. 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 sale, the director directly owned 60,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,368,229.69. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 65,190 shares of company stock worth $1,452,900 over the last 90 days. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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