East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Receives $89.53 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $89.53.

A number of brokerages recently commented on EWBC. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. DA Davidson raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 4.7 %

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $84.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $77.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.51. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $49.59 and a one year high of $89.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.32.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.40% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. East West Bancorp’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the firm’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 owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,392,713.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,698,240 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,366,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 47,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 926,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,641,000 after acquiring an additional 88,224 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.