Citigroup Inc. Acquires 62,189 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 253,413 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,189 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.12% of Eastern Bankshares worth $4,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 103,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after buying an additional 5,481 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter worth about $182,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth about $245,000. Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 127.0% in the second quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 43,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 24,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.6% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 225,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 67,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,791.04. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of EBC stock opened at $18.07 on Wednesday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.22 and a 1 year high of $19.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.79. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 0.92.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 18.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a 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.