East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Rating Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 9th. Stephens lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $164.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.71.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $131.21 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $128.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $98.72 and a fifty-two week high of $137.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.07 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.75%. East West Bancorp’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 10.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $105,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 35,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.57, for a total transaction of $4,572,953.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 637,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,294,520.10. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 70,810 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,738 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 22.4% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.0% in the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 13.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Marathon Mission Inc. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the second quarter. Marathon Mission Inc. now owns 2,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.4% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for East West Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the bank initially served Chinese American communities in Southern California and has since expanded its services and geographic reach. East West Bank provides personal and business banking, commercial lending, trade finance, treasury management and other financial services. Its customers include individuals, small and midsize businesses, and larger companies, with a focus on supporting commerce between the United States and Asia.