Park Avenue Securities LLC Invests $491,000 in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 60.0% during the second quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 1.6%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $106.58 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.10. The firm has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. Analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $139.00 target price on the stock. Cowen initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total transaction of $1,606,393.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 113,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,098,165.69. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,240 shares of company stock valued at $7,379,678. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp 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.