Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $3.37 Million Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 1.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 205,157 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,977 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $3,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter valued at $134,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter valued at $169,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter valued at $174,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total value of $36,628.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,571.60. This trade represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ EBC opened at $15.77 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.48 and a 200-day moving average of $15.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.87 and a beta of 0.94. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.51 and a 52 week high of $19.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $249.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $241.32 million. Eastern Bankshares had a positive return on equity of 7.35% and a negative net margin of 6.49%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -167.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.