East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Short Interest Update

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,800,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 4,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 890,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.77.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,157,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 830,133.3% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 24,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 24,904 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 159.1% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after buying an additional 18,166 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,287,000 after buying an additional 123,376 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,978,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.5 %

East West Bancorp stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 609,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 928,252. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $67.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The stock has a market cap of $13.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.03 and a 200-day moving average of $88.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.78%.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.