East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price 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. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.50.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $107.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.14. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $65.35 and a 52-week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $31,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.