Systematic Financial Management LP Takes Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 248,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,478,000. Systematic Financial Management LP owned about 0.14% of Eastern Bankshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EBC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 24.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,835,761 shares of the company's stock worth $67,599,000 after acquiring an additional 950,150 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 11.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,795,493 shares of the company's stock worth $52,300,000 after acquiring an additional 401,027 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,464,674 shares of the company's stock worth $49,198,000 after acquiring an additional 559,754 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 23.8% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,993,308 shares of the company's stock worth $41,248,000 after buying an additional 576,381 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,231,126 shares of the company's stock worth $31,682,000 after buying an additional 193,151 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $16.39. The stock had a trading volume of 669,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,016,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.65 and a 1 year high of $17.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The business had revenue of $232.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.45 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 48.38% and a return on equity of 5.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.44%.

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.