Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 86,819 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 283.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,474 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 86,819 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.05% of Eastern Bankshares worth $1,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,943,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $23,849,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 171,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 36,743 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 63,717.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 63,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 63,080 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 6,514 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC opened at $18.83 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.59. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.86 and a twelve month high of $19.15.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $299.55 million during 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. 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 at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EBC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 29th.

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.