East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $105.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. East West Bancorp traded as low as $68.70 and last traded at $69.46, with a volume of 279869 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.03.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on EWBC. Morgan Stanley downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday. UBS Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.00.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 108.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 28,549 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,174,000 after purchasing an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 100,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,699,000 after purchasing an additional 15,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 755,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,352,000 after purchasing an additional 68,528 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 2.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.35.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.81%.

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.