Short Interest in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Declines By 7.5%

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of 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 daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

EBC traded up $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,302,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,009,050. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.25. Eastern Bankshares has a twelve month low of $10.65 and a twelve month high of $17.26.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 5.06% and a net margin of 48.38%. The company had revenue of $232.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the firm’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 value of $211,182.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth approximately $85,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter valued at about $126,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $134,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth $150,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.