East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $137.00 to $150.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. East West Bancorp traded as high as $136.12 and last traded at $136.0230, with a volume of 275497 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.41.

EWBC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total transaction of $106,552.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 84,698 shares in the company, valued at $11,280,926.62. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,311 shares of company stock worth $6,784,711. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after buying an additional 5,305,257 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,981,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,822,000 after buying an additional 106,998 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,620,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,329,000 after buying an additional 306,916 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after acquiring an additional 633,649 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,713,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,619,000 after acquiring an additional 318,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s 50 day moving average is $127.00 and its 200-day moving average is $118.89.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The firm had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 31.97%.

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.