Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $702,000 Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $702,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,523,000 after buying an additional 27,402 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 264,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,046,000 after acquiring an additional 20,264 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,967,000 after acquiring an additional 5,305,257 shares in the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $1,044,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,516,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total value of $135,020.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This trade represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total transaction of $1,446,219.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,093,742. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,511 shares of company stock worth $4,312,741. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $129.97 on Monday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.67 and a 1 year high of $137.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $131.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.02. The firm has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The company had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 30.77%.

East West Bancorp Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.