Azora Capital LP Purchases 916,875 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Azora Capital LP raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 54.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,597,878 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 916,875 shares during the period. Eastern Bankshares comprises about 2.2% of Azora Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Azora Capital LP’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $47,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,254,000 after buying an additional 54,664 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter valued at about $954,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 114,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after acquiring an additional 5,028 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 7.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 432,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,091,000 after acquiring an additional 29,781 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 789.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 545,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,948,000 after acquiring an additional 484,277 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, CFO R David Rosato bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.17 per share, for a total transaction of $95,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,650. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 20,860 shares in the company, valued at $419,494.60. This represents a 50.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $18.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 45.83 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.85. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $13.51 and a one year high of $22.58.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.25%. The business had revenue of $290.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. Research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on EBC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.13.

Eastern Bankshares Company 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.