Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,795 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,670 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,795 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 301,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,887 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 142,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,451,000 after buying an additional 53,871 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,028,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,498,000 after buying an additional 59,339 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% during 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 during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 479.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 36,344 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC opened at $16.22 on Friday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.22 and a 1-year high of $19.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.38.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

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.