Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 67.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 35,857 shares during the quarter. East West Bancorp makes up about 0.5% of Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 66.9% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $274,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $296,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,539,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $347,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.82, for a total transaction of $5,891,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 808,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,237,558.42. This represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $706,894.36. The trade was a 23.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 120,585 shares of company stock worth $14,016,504 over the last ninety days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $121.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $123.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $115.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.36. The company has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.The business had revenue of $754.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 33.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.14.

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.