Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 417,056 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,779 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bankshares comprises about 2.3% of Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $7,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,534,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth $34,680,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 341.8% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,001,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,288,000 after purchasing an additional 774,553 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 457.9% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 856,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,084,000 after purchasing an additional 703,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Hovde Group began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, December 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given 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 Price Performance

Shares of EBC opened at $21.36 on Thursday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.51 and a 52 week high of $22.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.10 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.91 and a 200-day moving average of $18.38.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $243.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.09 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 8.32%. As a group, analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Eastern Bankshares news, CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,518 shares in the company, valued at $206,064.70. The trade was a 51.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 322,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total value of $6,142,332.13. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 36,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,211.36. This trade represents a 89.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 354,027 shares of company stock valued at $6,786,290. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.