Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 2,271 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,271 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,445,000 after buying an additional 4,795 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $765,000. Finally, Keeler THomas Management LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Keeler THomas Management LLC now owns 74,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,977,000 after buying an additional 4,162 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $75.98 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.39. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.12 and a 1 year high of $79.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The business had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Compass Point boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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 in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.