Analysts Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) PT at $129.21

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $129.2143.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EWBC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $125.00 price objective on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $169,099.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,612,807. The trade was a 9.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total transaction of $221,058.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,756 shares in the company, valued at $706,894.36. This trade represents a 23.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,221 shares of company stock valued at $7,139,287 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 82.6% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 1.8%

EWBC stock opened at $103.53 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $113.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.49. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $123.82. The firm has a market cap of $14.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $753.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

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.