Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Given New $20.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.38 during trading on Monday, reaching $15.33. 1,442,814 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,099,910. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88 and a beta of 0.96. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $15.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.09. Eastern Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $12.66 and a fifty-two week high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $222.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. Equities analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is a boost 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 -80.00%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, CFO R David Rosato bought 10,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,000. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 59,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 21,621 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,815,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,316,000 after buying an additional 223,681 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter valued at $37,196,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth about $311,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 479.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,929 shares of the company's stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 36,344 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.