East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.53.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stephens raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $79.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $49.59 and a 12-month high of $89.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.60.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.61 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.2 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,621,111.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 15,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,392,713.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $166,411.92. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,621,111.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,346 shares of company stock worth $1,108,160 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $338,142,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,369,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,692,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,460,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 112.5% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,441,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,013,000 after acquiring an additional 762,958 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.