Aureus Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Aureus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 659.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,834 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,053 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $1,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 378,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,205,000 after purchasing an additional 65,764 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,943,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,969,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,061,000 after purchasing an additional 467,663 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 815,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,367,000 after purchasing an additional 65,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $23,849,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of EBC stock opened at $18.64 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.76. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.86 and a 52 week high of $19.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 4.49% and a net margin of 38.00%. The company had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 20.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

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.