Polaris Capital Management LLC Sells 87,000 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Polaris Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 654,366 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87,000 shares during the period. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $11,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1,155.9% in the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 67,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,791.04. This trade represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of EBC opened at $18.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.72 and a 200 day moving average of $17.08. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.22 and a fifty-two week high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 71.64%.

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.