East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Short Interest Up 5.2% in September

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,880,000 shares, a growth of 5.2% from the August 31st total of 4,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 730,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.7 days. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $302,668.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,392,713.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,621,111.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $302,668.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,392,713.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 3.3 %

East West Bancorp stock traded down $2.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $80.04. 533,800 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 938,156. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $49.59 and a 52 week high of $89.75.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.61 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.40% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.87.

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.