Sheets Smith Investment Management Invests $985,000 in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

by · The Markets Daily

Sheets Smith Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC – Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 54,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $985,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 6.0% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 13,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 2,265.3% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 269,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,112,000 after acquiring an additional 257,932 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth about $172,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 65.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 8,106 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 208,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,181,000 after purchasing an additional 52,214 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.67.

Get Our Latest Research Report on EBC

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, insider Robert Francis Rivers purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.21 per share, for a total transaction of $860,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 403,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,940,345.54. The trade was a 14.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 322,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total value of $6,142,332.13. Following the sale, the director directly owned 36,112 shares in the company, valued at $687,211.36. The trade was a 89.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ EBC opened at $19.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.95. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $13.51 and a one year high of $20.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.00 and a beta of 0.83.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 4.97% and a return on equity of 7.94%. The company had revenue of $162.26 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 208.00%.

Eastern Bankshares Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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