East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $126.0769.

Several research firms have commented on EWBC. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $117.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $109.60 and a 200-day moving average of $106.11. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $119.73.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 27.16%.The company had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total transaction of $1,000,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,820. The trade was a 18.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total value of $3,408,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 858,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,530,219.82. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,344 shares of company stock worth $8,184,226. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.3% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in East West Bancorp by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About East West Bancorp

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.