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

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $110.38.

Several analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,022. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $89.08 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.69. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

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.