Polaris Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Polaris Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 654,366 shares of the company's stock after selling 87,000 shares during the quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC owned 0.30% of Eastern Bankshares worth $11,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EBC. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 378,564 shares of the company's stock worth $6,205,000 after acquiring an additional 65,764 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth approximately $1,943,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 13.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,969,558 shares of the company's stock worth $65,061,000 after acquiring an additional 467,663 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 20.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,940,433 shares of the company's stock worth $113,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,276 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 5.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,591,712 shares of the company's stock worth $26,088,000 after acquiring an additional 86,810 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.61. 525,518 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 937,776. The business's fifty day moving average price is $17.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83 and a beta of 0.94. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.22 and a 52 week high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.64%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 67,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,791.04. The trade was a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Eastern Bankshares Profile

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.