Azora Capital LP Invests $13.50 Million in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 782,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,499,000. Azora Capital LP owned 0.36% of Eastern Bankshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EBC. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at $172,000. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastern Bankshares news, CFO R David Rosato bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:EBC traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,090,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,103,711. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $15.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.06. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.66 and a 12-month high of $19.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57 and a beta of 0.97.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. The firm had revenue of $222.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $226.98 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -80.00%.

Eastern Bankshares 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.