East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.1538.

EWBC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the 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 owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total value of $135,020.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,810 shares of company stock valued at $1,564,344. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.8% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 81,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,480,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 26,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in East West Bancorp by 26.4% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $129.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $131.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.20. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $92.67 and a 12 month high of $137.47.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 30.77%.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: EWBC) is the holding company for East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through its East West Bank subsidiary.

East West Bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgage services, wealth management, treasury management, and international banking services. Its products support commercial real estate, commercial and industrial businesses, residential borrowers, and consumers.

The bank has a particular focus on serving communities and businesses connected to the United States and Greater China.