East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Holdings Trimmed by Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. reduced its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 202,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 54,590 shares during the quarter. East West Bancorp makes up approximately 3.4% of Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.15% of East West Bancorp worth $19,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 108.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 28,549 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,157,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 830,133.3% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 24,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 24,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 159.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 18,166 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $98.57 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $99.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.20. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on EWBC. Barclays lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.38.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.