Bank of Montreal Can Reduces Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 12.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 410,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 58,539 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $41,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total transaction of $835,706.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 105,714 shares in the company, valued at $11,565,111.60. This represents a 6.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total value of $697,378.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. This trade represents a 34.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 41,220 shares of company stock worth $4,343,878 over the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $100.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.85. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 27.16%. As a group, analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 26.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.08.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.