Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 9.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,915,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 168,029 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $204,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.9% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $274,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $290,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 34.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 118.7% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,568,000 after buying an additional 19,178 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total transaction of $1,446,219.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,093,742. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711 over the last three months. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.23.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $131.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.94. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.67 and a 12-month high of $136.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $128.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.53. 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 (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $791.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.59 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

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.