Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $2.18 Million Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 98,100 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,100 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $2,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,017 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 249.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,810,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,857 shares in the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 624,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,514,000 after purchasing an additional 111,811 shares in the last quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,153,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,447,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,319,000 after buying an additional 289,458 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on EBC shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.86.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $38,834.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $464,987.25. The trade was a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $23.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $15.71 and a one year high of $23.75. The company has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.22 and a 200-day moving average of $20.84.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $316.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.09%.

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.