Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) gapped down prior to trading on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $16.72, but opened at $16.06. Eastern Bankshares shares last traded at $16.06, with a volume of 161,488 shares traded.

The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth $25,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth $35,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1,155.9% in the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% in the third 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. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1,383.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 5,478 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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.