East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.04 EPS

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by ($0.04), Zacks reports. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $0.75 during trading on Thursday, hitting $103.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,758,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,349. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $101.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.73. The company has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $67.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.