TD Cowen Lowers East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $140.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective dropped by analysts at TD Cowen from $141.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 23.63% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on EWBC. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.21.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC traded up $1.89 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $113.24. The company had a trading volume of 531,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,119,165. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $119.73. The company has a market capitalization of $15.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.83.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $754.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 858,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,530,219.82. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.90, for a total transaction of $848,896.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,762,824.60. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 73,344 shares of company stock valued at $8,184,226. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $27,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 82.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.