East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $124.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EWBC. Truist Financial boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 8th.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $113.62 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $116.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $104.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.33. The company has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 27.16%.The company had revenue of $627.36 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total transaction of $3,408,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 858,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,530,219.82. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $1,017,325.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,950 shares in the company, valued at $1,719,698.50. This trade represents a 37.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 53,344 shares of company stock valued at $5,892,425 over the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Quarry LP boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.3% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 44.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.