Cibc World Market Inc. Invests $643,000 in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 4,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $907,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,523,000 after acquiring an additional 27,402 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 8.3% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 264,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,046,000 after acquiring an additional 20,264 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,387,000. Finally, Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,044,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.92.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.6%

EWBC stock opened at $129.65 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.67 and a twelve month high of $137.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.94. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.34.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total value of $135,020.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total value of $1,446,219.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,093,742. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 23,511 shares of company stock worth $3,077,741 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp 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.