East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wedbush raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.46.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $98.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.84. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $52.88 and a 12-month high of $99.55. 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 (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.21 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.71%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,343.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total value of $472,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $167,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,382,509.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 40.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 79,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,603,000 after acquiring an additional 22,804 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 159.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 18,166 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $178,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.