Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $18.56, but opened at $17.77. Eastern Bankshares shares last traded at $18.61, with a volume of 63,286 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 29th. 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.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 0.6 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.79 and a 200 day moving average of $15.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. The firm had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter worth $3,804,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $23,849,000. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 171,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,805,000 after acquiring an additional 36,743 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 63,717.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 63,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $883,000 after acquiring an additional 63,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 6,514 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently 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.