LSV Asset Management Trims Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

LSV Asset Management cut its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 562,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,700 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $40,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $76.64 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.65. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.12 and a twelve month high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.71%.

East West Bancorp 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.