Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. Sells 6,500 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. cut its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 202,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,500 shares during the period. East West Bancorp comprises approximately 4.2% of Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.15% of East West Bancorp worth $22,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,313,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,210,000 after purchasing an additional 19,539 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,464,000 after purchasing an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.9% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,395,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,879,000 after purchasing an additional 334,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 391,059 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $123.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.26 and a 1-year high of $127.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its 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 business 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total transaction of $3,704,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,422,275.70. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

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.