Azora Capital LP Takes Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 172,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,407,000. East West Bancorp makes up 1.2% of Azora Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 35.4% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 9,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 6,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.3% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. UBS Group upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $133.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $127.26 on Thursday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.36 and a 12 month high of $136.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $122.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The firm had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total value of $225,990.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,661,152.05. This represents a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total value of $106,552.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 84,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,280,926.62. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711. Insiders own 0.94% 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.