38,623 Shares in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Purchased by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 38,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EBC. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 283.5% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 40,458 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at $282,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,367,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,244,000 after buying an additional 100,820 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 102.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 156,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 79,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth $854,000. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 40,288 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.08, for a total transaction of $526,967.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,040 shares in the company, valued at $549,883.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of EBC opened at $12.39 on Wednesday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.93 and a twelve month high of $15.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.25 and a 200 day moving average of $13.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $160.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $153.53 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

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.