East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Stock: Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Decreases Stake

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY decreased its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 606,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,620 shares during the quarter. East West Bancorp makes up 2.0% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $75,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,744,958,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $221,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $130,744,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $36,995,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 503.5% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 263,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,113,000 after acquiring an additional 219,700 shares in the last quarter. 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, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total transaction of $1,323,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $105,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,386,021.60. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,810 shares of company stock valued at $1,564,344. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $131.77 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.08 and a 12 month high of $137.47. The stock has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $128.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $822.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $811.07 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.75%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 30.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Stephens boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.38.

East West Bancorp Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. The bank serves businesses, professionals, consumers and institutions through a range of deposit, lending and financial services.

Its products and services include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential and consumer lending, checking and savings accounts, treasury management, international banking, wealth management and foreign-exchange services.