11,680 Shares in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Bought by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EBC. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $23,849,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 58.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,079,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,065,000 after acquiring an additional 764,881 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 23.8% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,993,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,248,000 after acquiring an additional 576,381 shares during the period. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth $6,717,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on EBC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 1.1 %

Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $16.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.65 and a fifty-two week high of $17.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.97.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 48.38% and a return on equity of 5.06%. The company had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $0.12 dividend. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.69%.

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.