East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EWBC. Wedbush increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC opened at $98.97 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $13.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $99.91 and a 200 day moving average of $92.94. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $68.36 and a 52-week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,511,000 after purchasing an additional 70,503 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $652,223,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,763,000 after acquiring an additional 75,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,148,000 after buying an additional 186,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,438,000 after purchasing an additional 122,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.