Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Hits New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on EBC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 13.4 %

The business's 50 day moving average price is $16.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is currently 18.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,835,761 shares of the company's stock worth $67,599,000 after purchasing an additional 950,150 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 11.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,795,493 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,300,000 after acquiring an additional 401,027 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 58.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,079,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,065,000 after acquiring an additional 764,881 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth $23,849,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,064,969 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,888,000 after purchasing an additional 32,741 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.