Quantum Portfolio Management LLC Grows Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Quantum Portfolio Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 49.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 81,935 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,027 shares during the quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $1,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 8,112.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947 shares in the last quarter. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth about $36,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 90.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $130,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EBC. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price target on the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.88.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ EBC opened at $19.37 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.51 and a 52 week high of $20.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.48 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.58.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 7.94% and a net margin of 4.97%.The firm had revenue of $244.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.03 million. On average, analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 208.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 322,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total transaction of $6,142,332.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 36,112 shares in the company, valued at $687,211.36. The trade was a 89.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO R David Rosato bought 10,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.08 per share, for a total transaction of $170,800.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,400. This trade represents a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.