Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Short Interest Update

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the December 31st total of 3,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 940,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

EBC traded down $0.29 on Monday, reaching $18.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 869,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,012,265. Eastern Bankshares has a 1 year low of $12.22 and a 1 year high of $19.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.72 and its 200 day moving average is $16.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 71.64%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total value of $106,033.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 67,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,791.04. This trade represents a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 24,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 5.5% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

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.