EBC FY2024 EPS Decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) – Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Eastern Bankshares in a note issued to investors on Sunday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst D. Delmonte now anticipates that the company will earn $0.98 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $1.12. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has a “Outperform” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Eastern Bankshares’ current full-year earnings is $1.11 per share. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods also issued estimates for Eastern Bankshares’ Q4 2024 earnings at $0.28 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.29 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.31 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.33 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.34 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.27 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.34 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.35 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.38 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $1.45 EPS.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 48.38% and a return on equity of 5.06%. The company had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $16.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares has a 12-month low of $10.65 and a 12-month high of $17.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.95.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 20.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EBC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1,155.9% in the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.