Q1 EPS Forecast for Eastern Bankshares Raised by Analyst

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn raised their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Eastern Bankshares in a research note issued on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst L. Hunsicker now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $0.46 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.44. The consensus estimate for Eastern Bankshares' current full-year earnings is $1.49 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Eastern Bankshares' Q2 2026 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.51 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.52 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $1.97 EPS.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $15.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 259,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,095,396. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.10. Eastern Bankshares has a 12-month low of $12.66 and a 12-month high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. The company had revenue of $222.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $226.98 million.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company's stock worth $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 valued at about $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $134,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,246 shares of the company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

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

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -80.00%.

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.