Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys Shares of 73,407 Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 73,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,332,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 8,112.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,947 shares during the period. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth $36,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 90.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter valued at $102,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $20.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 49.98 and a beta of 0.81. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.51 and a 1 year high of $20.89. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.86.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $243.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.62%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 322,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total value of $6,142,332.13. Following the sale, the director owned 36,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,211.36. This trade represents a 89.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total value of $427,458.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,494.60. This represents a 50.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EBC has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Barclays began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research 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, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.