Moors & Cabot Inc. Boosts Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 24.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,084 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,042 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 6.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,173 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 8.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 257,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $16.74 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $16.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.65 and a 52 week high of $17.26.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The business had revenue of $232.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.45 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 48.38% and a return on equity of 5.06%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.44%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.