Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 329,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,666 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.24% of East West Bancorp worth $35,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Access Investment Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the third quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 129,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,775,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 156.5% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 37,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,035,000 after buying an additional 23,125 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,339,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 145.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 163,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,381,000 after buying an additional 96,760 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. Barclays upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.14.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $119.10 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $115.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.75. The company has a market cap of $16.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $123.82.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $754.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,453 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.90, for a total value of $848,896.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,714 shares in the company, valued at $9,762,824.60. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $169,099.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,612,807. This represents a 9.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 120,585 shares of company stock valued at $14,016,504 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.