Citigroup Cuts East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $152.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Citigroup from $156.00 to $152.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 18.60% from the company’s previous close.

EWBC has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $148.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded East West Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.54.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.3%

EWBC stock opened at $128.16 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $92.67 and a 52 week high of $137.47. The company has a market capitalization of $17.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total transaction of $1,323,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,248.38. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $105,624.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,810 shares of company stock valued at $1,564,344. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: EWBC) is the holding company for East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through its East West Bank subsidiary.

East West Bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgage services, wealth management, treasury management, and international banking services. Its products support commercial real estate, commercial and industrial businesses, residential borrowers, and consumers.

The bank has a particular focus on serving communities and businesses connected to the United States and Greater China.