Eastern Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Eastern Bank grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 2.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,472,122 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 35,169 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $32,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,017 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,018,000 after buying an additional 3,407,066 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,552,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,048,000 after buying an additional 939,740 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,919,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,385,000 after buying an additional 1,389,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 185.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,437,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,066,000 after buying an additional 4,835,474 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens downgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total value of $38,834.10. Following the sale, the director owned 20,475 shares in the company, valued at $464,987.25. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $23.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.94 and a 1-year high of $23.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.60 and its 200 day moving average is $20.62.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $316.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 25.12%. Research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is presently 34.09%.

Eastern Bankshares Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States. Founded in 1818 as Salem Savings Bank and later rebranded as Eastern Bank in 1989, the company preserved its mutual ownership structure for more than two centuries. In March 2020, it completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker EBC, while continuing to emphasize its community-focused heritage.

Through its primary subsidiary, Eastern Bank, the company delivers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking products.