Credit Suisse AG Grows Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Credit Suisse AG raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC – Get Rating) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,476 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the period. Credit Suisse AG’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $2,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $99,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Silvant Capital Management LLC now owns 5,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 45.8% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on EBC shares. TheStreet cut Eastern Bankshares from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $19.50 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastern Bankshares has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.25.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $15.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.65 and a 200 day moving average of $18.58. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.25 and a 52 week high of $22.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 25.57%. The company had revenue of $194.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.44 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 2nd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Eastern Bankshares Profile

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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. It operates in two segments, Banking Business and Insurance Agency Business. The company provides interest-bearing and non interest-bearing checking deposits, money market deposits, savings deposits, and time certificates of deposits, as well as debit and credit cards.