East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target Cut to $142.00 by Analysts at Barclays

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $150.00 to $142.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

EWBC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.36.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of EWBC opened at $110.61 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $111.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.41. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $123.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $753.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase 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 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.61%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $169,099.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,612,807. This trade represents a 9.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total transaction of $858,130.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,842.68. This represents a 57.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,221 shares of company stock worth $7,139,287. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 82.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 115.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

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.