Noesis Capital Mangement Corp Increases Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Noesis Capital Mangement Corp lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 34.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,423 shares during the period. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,464,000 after buying an additional 633,649 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,207,000 after buying an additional 542,149 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,051,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $207,146,000 after buying an additional 391,059 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 707,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,422,275.70. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,661,152.05. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $133.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.36.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $119.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $16.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.26 and a fifty-two week high of $127.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $113.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. East West Bancorp’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.97%.

About East West Bancorp

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.