Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $28.11 Million Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 503.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 263,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 219,700 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $28,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.9% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $274,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $290,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in East West Bancorp by 34.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 118.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,568,000 after purchasing an additional 19,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on EWBC. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.23.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $131.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.75. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.67 and a 1-year high of $136.24.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $791.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total value of $225,990.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,231 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,152.05. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,311 shares of company stock worth $6,784,711. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company 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.