East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.9231.

Several analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $129.97 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $92.67 and a 1 year high of $137.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.94.

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

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued 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, August 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 84,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,280,926.62. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total value of $135,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,511 shares of company stock worth $4,312,741. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $27,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.