Short Interest in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Rises By 24.2%

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,370,000 shares, an increase of 24.2% from the April 30th total of 5,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company's shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $14.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,395,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,101. Eastern Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $12.66 and a fifty-two week high of $19.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28 and a beta of 0.95.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is presently -80.00%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, CFO R David Rosato bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $308,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total value of $36,628.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $452,571.60. This represents a 7.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter valued at $130,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter valued at $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.