East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.00.

A number of research firms recently commented on EWBC. Truist Financial decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $803,502,000 after acquiring an additional 215,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,582,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $833,469,000 after purchasing an additional 159,963 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $338,142,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,370,000 after purchasing an additional 751,944 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,713,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,279,000 after purchasing an additional 886,841 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $73.36 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.06 and a 200-day moving average of $73.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.32. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $49.59 and a 1-year high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

About East West Bancorp

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.