Eastern Bankshares Shares Decline After Earnings Report

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) saw a significant drop in its stock price following a disappointing earnings announcement. The company's shares, which had closed at $16.72, opened at $16.06 on Friday. By the end of trading, the stock remained at $16.06, with a total volume of 161,488 shares exchanged.

The earnings report revealed that Eastern Bankshares posted earnings of $0.25 per share for the recent quarter. This figure fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.08. The company's net margin was 48.38%, with a return on equity of 5.06%. Revenue for the quarter reached $299.55 million, outperforming analysts' expectations of $215.92 million. In the same quarter last year, the company had reported earnings of $0.32 per share.

Wall Street Analyst Perspectives

Analysts on Wall Street have recently updated their outlook on Eastern Bankshares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target from $14.00 to $18.50 in a report released on August 6th. Meanwhile, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating while raising their target price from $17.00 to $19.00 in a note issued on July 29th.

Insider Trading Activity

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of Eastern Bankshares on September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, amounting to a total value of $211,182.16. Details of this transaction were disclosed in a filing with the SEC, accessible from the SEC’s website. Currently, insiders hold approximately 1.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investor Engagement

Institutional investors have shown varying levels of interest in Eastern Bankshares recently. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in the company during the third quarter, valuing it at about $25,000. In addition, Sachetta LLC purchased a stake worth $35,000 in the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA significantly increased its position by 1,155.9% in the third quarter and now holds 4,333 shares valued at $72,000. Signaturefd LLC also raised its stake by 18.3%, owning 5,194 shares now worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares. Lastly, CWM LLC ramped up its stake by 1,383.3%, bringing its total to 5,874 shares valued at $96,000 after buying 5,478 shares during the same period. Overall, hedge funds and institutional investors hold about 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Stock Performance Overview

Eastern Bankshares has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion and a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 5.59, with a beta value of 0.89. The company's 50-day moving average stands at $16.42, while its 200-day moving average is $14.85. The debt-to-equity ratio is low at 0.01, and both the current and quick ratios are reported at 0.84.

Company Background

Eastern Bankshares, Inc acts as the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, offering banking products and services primarily to retail, commercial, and small business clients. The services provided include various types of deposit accounts like checking, money market, savings, and time certificates of deposit.

Eastern, Bankshares, EBC