Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC Stake Raised by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 36.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 357,493 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 95,100 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $6,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440,017 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 249.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,810,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,857 shares in the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 624,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,514,000 after purchasing an additional 111,811 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 7.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,393,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,300,000 after purchasing an additional 95,731 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,275,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,498,000 after purchasing an additional 275,000 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total transaction of $38,834.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $464,987.25. The trade was a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC opened at $23.00 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.67. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.88 and a 1 year high of $23.53.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 26.28%.The firm had revenue of $295.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.68 million. Research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on EBC. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.08.

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.