East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.53.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $106.51 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $104.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.57. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $702.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.04%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,270. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total transaction of $697,378.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. This represents a 34.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678 in the last ninety days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 3.7% in the first quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 15.7% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.7% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 21,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.6% during the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 5,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Company 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.