Man Group plc Takes Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Man Group plc bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 69,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,917,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.9% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $274,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $290,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $3,568,000 after buying an additional 19,178 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total transaction of $135,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,850,989.18. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp 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 sale, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,894,248.38. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,511 shares of company stock worth $3,077,741. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $129.44 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.67 and a fifty-two week high of $137.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $131.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $17.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 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 company had revenue of $789.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

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.