Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,618,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 933,930 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 3.67% of Eastern Bankshares worth $168,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 28.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,846,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,535,094 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 36.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 357,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,993,000 after acquiring an additional 95,100 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 11.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter worth about $317,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Eastern Bankshares

Here are the key news stories impacting Eastern Bankshares this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Eastern Bankshares delivered a Q2 earnings beat, with EPS of $0.49 versus $0.46 expected and revenue of $316.0 million versus $308.2 million estimated. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, reinforcing its shareholder-return profile and yield appeal. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s Q2 earnings call transcript may provide additional color on loan growth, margins, and credit trends, but no major new catalyst was highlighted in the provided summary. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful change in positioning, with reported short interest at 0 shares, offering little signal for near-term trading pressure.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.08.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ EBC opened at $22.92 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.45. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.88 and a 52-week high of $23.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 25.12%.The business had revenue of $316.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.20 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.09%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total value of $38,834.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,475 shares in the company, valued at $464,987.25. The trade was a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.