Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Position Raised by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,370,754 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,069 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.64% of Eastern Bankshares worth $22,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of EBC stock opened at $18.64 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.86 and a fifty-two week high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 4.49% and a net margin of 38.00%. The business had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.97%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

About Eastern Bankshares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Eastern Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to retail, commercial, and small business customers. The company provides deposit accounts, interest checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit accounts.