East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $111.36 and last traded at $110.8350, with a volume of 46953 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $110.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Zacks Research upgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

The stock has a market cap of $15.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $103.46 and a 200 day moving average of $102.42.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $627.36 million for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 27.16%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,520 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $159,189.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $791,339.88. The trade was a 16.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total transaction of $1,000,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 45,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,820. This represents a 18.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,466,199. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 880.7% in the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 19,420 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 16.5% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 155.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $692,468,000 after purchasing an additional 4,696,157 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $2,187,000. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 249.8% in the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 13,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after buying an additional 9,363 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.