Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $17.99 and last traded at $17.96, with a volume of 164697 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 3.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.12.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 38.00%. The firm had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 18.97%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EBC. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at $23,849,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 24.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,835,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,599,000 after acquiring an additional 950,150 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 58.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,079,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,065,000 after purchasing an additional 764,881 shares during the period. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,717,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,795,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,300,000 after purchasing an additional 401,027 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.