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

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,430,000 shares, a decline of 7.5% from the August 15th total of 3,710,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of EBC traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $16.74. 1,302,679 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,009,297. Eastern Bankshares has a 12-month low of $10.65 and a 12-month high of $17.26. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $16.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.27. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. The business had revenue of $232.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.45 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 48.38% and a return on equity of 5.06%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EBC. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $85,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter worth about $126,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth about $134,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $150,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.