East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Receives $138.31 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.2308.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Stephens raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $131.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $128.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.56. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $92.67 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $791.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The company’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.24 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 10.59 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,289. This trade represents a 17.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total transaction of $106,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 84,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,280,926.62. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711 in the last three months. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $274,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $290,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in East West Bancorp by 34.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 118.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,568,000 after buying an additional 19,178 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

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.