Panagora Asset Management Inc. Makes New $1.23 Million Investment in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 88,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,543,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1,965.8% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,622,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,043,000 after buying an additional 1,544,181 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,794,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,885,000 after buying an additional 634,133 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,993,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,248,000 after acquiring an additional 576,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,464,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,198,000 after acquiring an additional 559,754 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of EBC stock opened at $16.97 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $15.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.65 and a 1-year high of $17.26. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The business had revenue of $232.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.45 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 5.06% and a net margin of 48.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 15.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EBC has been the subject of a number of 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 note on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th.

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.