512,660 Shares in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC Bought by Algebris UK Ltd.

Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 512,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,298,000. Algebris UK Ltd. owned about 0.24% of Eastern Bankshares at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,254,000 after purchasing an additional 54,664 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter worth about $954,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 114,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after acquiring an additional 5,028 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 7.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 432,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,091,000 after acquiring an additional 29,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 789.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 545,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,948,000 after acquiring an additional 484,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays started coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Hovde Group began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.88.

Insider Activity

In other Eastern Bankshares news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $512,400. This trade represents a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Francis Rivers acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.21 per share, for a total transaction of $860,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 403,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,940,345.54. This represents a 14.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Eastern Bankshares

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS beat — Eastern reported $0.44 EPS vs. the $0.41 consensus, which is supportive for the earnings story and suggests underlying profitability outperformed expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong loan growth highlighted — Company commentary and press coverage emphasize robust loan growth in the quarter, a key revenue driver for a regional bank and a constructive signal for future interest income. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend declared — Eastern declared a $0.13 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~2.5%), giving income-focused investors a tangible return and supporting the stock’s income case ahead of the ex-dividend date. (Dividend announcement released Jan 22)
• Neutral Sentiment: Management materials available — The earnings call transcript and slide deck provide detail on drivers (loan mix, net interest income, expense and credit trends). Investors should review management’s color on margin trajectory and deposit dynamics for forward guidance. Read More. · Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue missed expectations — Reported revenue of $243.4M fell well short of the ~$287M analysts expected, which tempers the positive EPS surprise and raises questions on fee and noninterest income performance. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Mild profitability and valuation considerations — Q4 net margin (~4.97%) and ROE (~7.94%) remain modest; the stock trades at a high P/E (~80x) which may make investors sensitive to revenue and margin misses. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market reaction — Trading picked up on the print and the stock is moving lower as the market digests the mix of an EPS beat, loan growth and the revenue shortfall; watch upcoming analyst commentary and any forward guidance for near-term direction. Read More.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of EBC opened at $20.05 on Monday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.51 and a 52-week high of $20.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.72. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.90 and a beta of 0.81.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $243.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 8.32%. Research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.83%.

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.