Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. Lowers Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lessened its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 634,049 shares of the company's stock after selling 88,500 shares during the period. Eastern Bankshares makes up approximately 2.0% of Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. owned 0.30% of Eastern Bankshares worth $10,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter valued at $134,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at $172,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of EBC stock traded down $0.58 on Tuesday, hitting $15.61. 1,875,895 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,223,918. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of -24.02 and a beta of 0.94. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $13.51 and a one year high of $19.40. The firm's 50 day moving average is $15.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.18.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a positive return on equity of 6.42% and a negative net margin of 15.56%. Sell-side analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is presently -80.00%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total transaction of $36,628.80. Following the sale, the director owned 29,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $452,571.60. This represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.