HB Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

HB Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 38.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,238 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 155.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $692,468,000 after acquiring an additional 4,696,157 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,733,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $424,843,000 after acquiring an additional 314,262 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.2% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,005,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $359,525,000 after acquiring an additional 46,717 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.0% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,701,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,739,000 after acquiring an additional 32,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth $137,390,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on EWBC. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Cowen began coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 14,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,572,270. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total value of $697,378.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at $1,302,660.45. This trade represents a 34.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678 over the last ninety days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $106.87 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $104.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The company has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.05. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.The firm had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

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.