Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Short Interest Up 12.8% in December

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.50. 944,644 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 842,919. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.71. Eastern Bankshares has a 52 week low of $12.22 and a 52 week high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $0.12 dividend. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.69%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 67,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,791.04. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 24,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 5.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

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.