Minerva Advisors LLC Takes Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Minerva Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 62,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,000. Eastern Bankshares accounts for about 0.8% of Minerva Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HoldCo Asset Management LP lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 23.0% during the third quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 6,408,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,272 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 30.3% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 271,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,928,000 after purchasing an additional 63,172 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,332,000. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,298,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 22.6% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,150,000 after purchasing an additional 184,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EBC. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.92.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.17 per share, for a total transaction of $95,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,650. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of EBC stock opened at $19.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.70. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $14.10 and a one year high of $22.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $295.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.68 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 26.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. Sell-side analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 29.21%.

Eastern Bankshares Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States. Founded in 1818 as Salem Savings Bank and later rebranded as Eastern Bank in 1989, the company preserved its mutual ownership structure for more than two centuries. In March 2020, it completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker EBC, while continuing to emphasize its community-focused heritage.

Through its primary subsidiary, Eastern Bank, the company delivers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking products.