Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 480 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.06% of East West Bancorp worth $6,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,832,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 159.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,448,000 after buying an additional 18,166 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $852,000. M&G Plc bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,078,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 55.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 99,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,859,000 after acquiring an additional 35,453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $110.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.34 and a fifty-two week high of $110.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.27.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.78%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total transaction of $985,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,543,510.50. This trade represents a 7.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 in the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.25.

East West Bancorp 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.