Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 124,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,048,000. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Eastern Bankshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 70,274 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 6,274 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 27.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 171,129 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 36,743 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $384,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1,383.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 5,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.24. 1,269,793 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,008,684. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.65 and a twelve month high of $17.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.71.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $232.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.45 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 5.06% and a net margin of 48.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Eastern Bankshares Company 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.