MBL Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

MBL Wealth LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $848,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $184,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.6% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 9,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.3% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 72,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,976,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 17.5% in the third quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 2,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 31.4% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.1%

EWBC opened at $131.19 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $128.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.98. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.08 and a fifty-two week high of $137.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.87.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.75% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 30.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total value of $1,323,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 36,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,810 shares of company stock valued at $1,564,344. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. The bank serves businesses, professionals, consumers and institutions through a range of deposit, lending and financial services.

Its products and services include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential and consumer lending, checking and savings accounts, treasury management, international banking, wealth management and foreign-exchange services.