Kitching Partners LLC Takes $322,000 Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Kitching Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 19,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000. Eastern Bankshares makes up approximately 0.4% of Kitching Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EBC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. PFS Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $32,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth $35,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its stake in 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 valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of EBC opened at $18.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.24 and its 200-day moving average is $15.75. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.86 and a 12 month high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 4.49% and a net margin of 38.00%. The business had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

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.