Legal & General Group Plc Takes $10.71 Million Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 481,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,714,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 27,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 0.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 179,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,739,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 6.0% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 13,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on EBC shares. Stephens lowered Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of EBC stock opened at $21.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.96. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 0.68. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.61 and a 1-year high of $23.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $316.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.20 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 1,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.69, for a total transaction of $40,342.82. Following the sale, the director owned 60,301 shares in the company, valued at $1,368,229.69. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 20,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,987.25. This represents a 7.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 35,197 shares of company stock worth $809,724 in the last 90 days. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.