East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given New $86.00 Price Target at Stephens

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective raised by Stephens from $85.00 to $86.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on EWBC. Barclays started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an overweight rating and a $106.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $75.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $41.12 and a 1-year high of $79.54. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $74.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.68.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $644.13 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 40,757.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,437,000 after purchasing an additional 103,117 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 31,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 92.7% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 48,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,560,000 after acquiring an additional 23,361 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $803,502,000 after acquiring an additional 215,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 12.2% during the third quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 279,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,715,000 after purchasing an additional 30,466 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.