East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $90.75, but opened at $93.24. East West Bancorp shares last traded at $81.81, with a volume of 260,582 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 5.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.50 and its 200 day moving average is $95.48.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This trade represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,148,260. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 108.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 28,549 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,174,000 after purchasing an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 100,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,699,000 after purchasing an additional 15,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 755,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,352,000 after purchasing an additional 68,528 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% 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.