Arizona State Retirement System Grows Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,452 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $85,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $126,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter valued at $182,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter worth $189,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EBC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, August 6th. 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.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 2.4 %

Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $16.27 on Monday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.65 and a 12 month high of $17.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $232.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.44%.

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.