East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Upgraded by UBS Group to Buy

UBS Group upgraded shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $61.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $57.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a sell rating on the stock. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $58.00 to $57.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $68.00 to $62.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $66.33.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $53.94 on Monday. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $33.86 and a 52 week high of $80.98. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.09, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 33.62%. The firm had revenue of $648.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 31st. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 2,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $134,919.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,548 shares in the company, valued at $1,037,946.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 65.1% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Tobam acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Ellevest Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 56.9% in the first quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 1,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. 87.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other. It accepts various deposit products, such as personal and business checking and savings accounts, money market, and time deposits.