Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock Price

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) had its target price cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC opened at $14.85 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $15.96 and a 200-day moving average of $17.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16 and a beta of 0.96. Eastern Bankshares has a twelve month low of $12.54 and a twelve month high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 71.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter valued at $134,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% during 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 during 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.