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

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $134.6154.

A number of analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total transaction of $1,446,219.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,093,742. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares in the company, valued at $87,422,275.70. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $199,529,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 281.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,607,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,647,000 after buying an additional 1,185,781 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in East West Bancorp by 19.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after buying an additional 633,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 61.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,207,000 after buying an additional 542,149 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $129.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 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. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $92.67 and a 12-month high of $136.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $125.47 and its 200-day moving average is $117.71.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.97%.

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.