Hsbc Holdings PLC Takes $2.63 Million Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 142,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,634,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. HoldCo Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 23.0% during the third quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 6,408,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,319,000 after buying an additional 1,200,272 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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 acquiring an additional 1,292,857 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 54.5% in the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,597,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,151,000 after acquiring an additional 916,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 624,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,514,000 after acquiring an additional 111,811 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on EBC. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastern Bankshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total transaction of $38,834.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,987.25. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

EBC opened at $22.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.88 and a 1 year high of $22.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.16.

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

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.