Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 5,437 East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 5,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $702,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,523,000 after buying an additional 27,402 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after buying an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.3% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 264,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,046,000 after acquiring an additional 20,264 shares in the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $1,044,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $1,516,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total transaction of $106,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 84,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,280,926.62. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total value of $135,020.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This trade represents a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 33,511 shares of company stock worth $4,312,741 in the last 90 days. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC opened at $129.97 on Monday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.67 and a twelve month high of $137.47. The firm has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.94. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.02.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The company had revenue of $789.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.92.

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.