Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $23.00 to $24.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.06% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, June 8th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.08.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.01. 99,985 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,507,941. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 0.69. Eastern Bankshares has a one year low of $14.88 and a one year high of $22.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.94.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 26.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm had revenue of $295.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.68 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 185.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,437,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,066,000 after purchasing an additional 4,835,474 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,018,000 after purchasing an additional 3,407,066 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,017 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at $33,548,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,846,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,912,000 after buying an additional 1,535,094 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States. Founded in 1818 as Salem Savings Bank and later rebranded as Eastern Bank in 1989, the company preserved its mutual ownership structure for more than two centuries. In March 2020, it completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker EBC, while continuing to emphasize its community-focused heritage.

Through its primary subsidiary, Eastern Bank, the company delivers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking products.