Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.13

Key Points

• Eastern Bankshares, Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.52 and a yield of 3.26%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 3rd.
• The company reported earnings of $0.41 per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and had a positive return on equity of 6.42% despite a net margin of -15.56%.
• Institutional investors own 71.68% of Eastern Bankshares' stock, highlighting significant institutional interest in the company's shares.

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share on Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd.

Eastern Bankshares has a dividend payout ratio of 27.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Eastern Bankshares to earn $1.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.2%.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC traded down $0.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,442,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,505,404. Eastern Bankshares has a 52 week low of $13.51 and a 52 week high of $19.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.77 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.10.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a negative net margin of 6.49% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. The firm had revenue of $249.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.32 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total value of $36,628.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $452,571.60. This represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EBC. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 789.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 545,589 shares of the company's stock worth $8,948,000 after acquiring an additional 484,277 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter valued at $954,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,254,000 after purchasing an additional 54,664 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 432,405 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,091,000 after purchasing an additional 29,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter valued at $130,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.