Brokerages Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target at $144.15

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $144.1538.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jack Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total transaction of $135,020.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This trade represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total value of $1,323,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 12,610 shares of company stock worth $1,670,896 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $907,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 199,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,440,000 after acquiring an additional 17,486 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,523,000 after acquiring an additional 27,402 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,387,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $1,516,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $129.17 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.04. The stock has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $92.67 and a 12 month high of $137.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The firm had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 30.77%.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: EWBC) is the holding company for East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through its East West Bank subsidiary.

East West Bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgage services, wealth management, treasury management, and international banking services. Its products support commercial real estate, commercial and industrial businesses, residential borrowers, and consumers.

The bank has a particular focus on serving communities and businesses connected to the United States and Greater China.