Maltese Capital Management LLC Purchases 15,324 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Maltese Capital Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 32.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 62,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,324 shares during the period. East West Bancorp makes up about 1.3% of Maltese Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Maltese Capital Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $7,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 35.4% in the third 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 boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 9,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 6,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $131.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $121.77 and a 200-day moving average of $115.84. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.79 and a 52-week high of $136.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The business had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,422,275.70. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,289. This trade represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 53,511 shares of company stock valued at $6,678,159 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

East West Bancorp Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.