Eastern Bankshares Chair Buys $860K in Stock Ahead of Merger
Robert Francis's purchase of 50,000 shares follows a recent earnings miss and comes just days before the bank's merger with HarborOne Bancorp is set to close.
Robert Francis, the Executive Chair of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBC), has made a significant open-market purchase of the company's stock, acquiring 50,000 shares for approximately $860,500. The transaction, disclosed in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, signals a strong vote of confidence from the company's leadership at a pivotal moment for the Boston-based bank.
The purchase was executed at an average price of $17.21 per share. This move is particularly noteworthy for its timing, occurring shortly after the bank's third-quarter earnings report on October 23rd and just ahead of the planned closing of its merger with HarborOne Bancorp, Inc.
Eastern Bankshares, a financial institution with a market capitalization of approximately $3.42 billion, recently posted mixed results for its third quarter. While the bank reported a 44% year-over-year increase in operating net income to $0.37 per diluted share, the figure fell short of analyst expectations. The post-earnings dip appears to have created a buying opportunity in the eyes of its most senior executive.
The insider purchase aligns with other recent capital actions that project confidence in the bank's valuation. During its earnings announcement, Eastern Bankshares' board authorized the resumption of its share repurchase program, allowing for the buyback of up to 11.9 million shares, or about 5% of its issued capital, through October 2026.
Investor attention is now sharply focused on the forthcoming merger with HarborOne, which has received all necessary regulatory approvals and is anticipated to close on November 1, 2025. The deal is a significant strategic move intended to expand Eastern Bank's footprint and scale in the competitive New England banking sector. Francis’s substantial share purchase ahead of this closing could be interpreted by the market as a bullish signal about the long-term value expected from the integration.
Shares of EBC traded around $17.20 in Tuesday's session. The stock is currently trading below its 50-day moving average but remains above its 200-day moving average, indicating recent weakness but a longer-term stable trend. The company's stock trades at a price-to-book ratio of 0.99, a metric often used by investors to value bank stocks.
Wall Street analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on the bank. Based on data from five analysts, the consensus rating for EBC is a 'Buy', with an average price target of $22.00. This suggests that a portion of the analyst community sees significant upside from the current trading levels, a sentiment now visibly shared by the company's own Executive Chair.