Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,775 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,775 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $856,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 8.7% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 815,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,367,000 after purchasing an additional 65,540 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $1,671,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 5,933.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 101,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 100,154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 1.1 %

EBC stock opened at $19.03 on Tuesday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.86 and a twelve month high of $19.40. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.09 and a 200-day moving average of $15.62.

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

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

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.