Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 774,553 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 341.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,001,190 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 774,553 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.47% of Eastern Bankshares worth $15,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 789.9% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 545,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,948,000 after purchasing an additional 484,277 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 36.2% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 109,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 29,058 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,770,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,240,000 after acquiring an additional 93,157 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 148.5% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 153,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,519,000 after acquiring an additional 91,777 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $463,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 1.2%

EBC stock opened at $17.71 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.51 and a fifty-two week high of $19.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.84 and a beta of 0.95.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 7.94% and a net margin of 4.97%.The company had revenue of $162.26 million for the quarter. Analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 208.00%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, insider Robert Francis Rivers purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.21 per share, with a total value of $860,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 403,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,940,345.54. This trade represents a 14.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.08 per share, with a total value of $170,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $512,400. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 73,706 shares of company stock worth $1,265,261. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on EBC shares. Cowen initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.50.

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.