East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $109.77.

EWBC has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 10.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 234,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,159,000 after buying an additional 22,726 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 164,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,071,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,480,000 after purchasing an additional 118,658 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $717,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $100.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $67.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

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.