East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $82.00 to $85.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on EWBC. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $75.98 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $74.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $41.12 and a fifty-two week high of $79.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. CWM LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 727,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,348,000 after buying an additional 3,302 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 21.2% during the third quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,795 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the period. Finally, JB Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $765,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.