The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,290,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,708,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,017 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 249.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,810,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,857 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 624,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,514,000 after purchasing an additional 111,811 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth approximately $1,074,000. Finally, Minerva Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Stephens lowered Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $22.41 on Friday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.61 and a 52 week high of $23.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.96. The firm has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $316.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 25.12%. Equities analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.09%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 1,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.69, for a total value of $40,342.82. Following the sale, the director directly owned 60,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,368,229.69. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total transaction of $38,834.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,475 shares in the company, valued at $464,987.25. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,197 shares of company stock valued at $809,724. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.