East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given New $86.00 Price Target at Stephens

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective boosted by Stephens from $85.00 to $86.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an overweight rating and a $106.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $84.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $77.20 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $41.12 and a twelve month high of $79.54. The company has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 26.78%. The business had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $803,502,000 after purchasing an additional 215,281 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,582,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $833,469,000 after purchasing an additional 159,963 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,416,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $443,635,000 after purchasing an additional 306,473 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,370,000 after purchasing an additional 751,944 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,713,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,279,000 after acquiring an additional 886,841 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.