Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,775 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $41,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC opened at $17.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.52. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.22 and a 1 year high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted 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). Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. The business had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of Eastern Bankshares 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 directly owns 67,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,791.04. The trade was a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares 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.