Impax Asset Management Group plc Grows Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 184,460 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $18,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $79,534,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth about $34,680,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 341.8% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,001,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,288,000 after buying an additional 774,553 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 457.9% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 856,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,084,000 after buying an additional 703,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,298,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.8%

EBC stock opened at $21.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.61 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.15. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.51 and a 52 week high of $22.58.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 8.32%.The firm had revenue of $243.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.09 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 126.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EBC shares. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.13.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total transaction of $427,458.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,494.60. The trade was a 50.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total transaction of $216,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,064.70. This trade represents a 51.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 354,027 shares of company stock worth $6,786,290. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.