LMR Partners LLP Takes $339,000 Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 4,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth $338,142,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $59,460,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 152.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,404,000 after purchasing an additional 225,799 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 30.6% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 649,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,578,000 after purchasing an additional 152,334 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $9,078,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.25.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the business’s 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 owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,740,210. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,969 shares of company stock worth $2,625,276 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $105.50 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.34 and a 12 month high of $107.68. The firm has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

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.