Short Interest in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Grows By 21.1%

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,630,000 shares, an increase of 21.1% from the June 30th total of 6,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 960,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EBC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter valued at $24,543,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1,965.8% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,622,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,544,181 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,794,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,885,000 after purchasing an additional 634,133 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,993,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,248,000 after purchasing an additional 576,381 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,464,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,198,000 after purchasing an additional 559,754 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $16.57. 1,418,345 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 994,130. Eastern Bankshares has a one year low of $10.65 and a one year high of $17.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.69.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $232.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.45 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 48.38% and a return on equity of 5.14%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 15.44%.

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.