Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 30.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 271,494 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,172 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $4,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8,112.5% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,947 shares in the last quarter. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 90.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

EBC opened at $19.45 on Wednesday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.51 and a 52-week high of $22.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.71. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.44 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business had revenue of $290.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. On average, analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,064.70. This represents a 51.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total transaction of $427,458.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,494.60. The trade was a 50.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on EBC. Zacks Research upgraded Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, December 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastern Bankshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.13.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

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.