Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 61.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,195 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,400 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $493,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,634,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter worth about $241,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,018,000 after purchasing an additional 3,407,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total transaction of $38,834.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,987.25. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.08.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC opened at $21.66 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.50 and a 200-day moving average of $20.12. The firm has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.67. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.88 and a twelve month high of $22.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 26.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company had revenue of $295.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.68 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 33.71%.

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.