East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $128.1429.

EWBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Truist Financial set a $121.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $125.00 price target on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $121.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.65. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $123.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $754.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. Equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total value of $858,130.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,842.68. This represents a 57.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 12,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total transaction of $1,442,905.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 93,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,714,205. This trade represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 120,585 shares of company stock worth $14,016,504 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 145.5% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 96,760 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 249.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 13,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,363 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 90.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 311,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,428,000 after purchasing an additional 147,792 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 2,084.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,665,000 after buying an additional 50,785 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% 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.