Short Interest in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Grows By 12.8%

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, a growth of 12.8% from the December 31st total of 3,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 940,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC traded down $0.29 during trading on Monday, reaching $18.07. 869,158 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,012,265. Eastern Bankshares has a 52 week low of $12.22 and a 52 week high of $19.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $17.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.99.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.64%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total value of $106,033.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 67,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,791.04. The trade was a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 24,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 5.5% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 21.1% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.