Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,689 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $338,142,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $115,369,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $67,692,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $59,460,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 112.5% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,441,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,013,000 after purchasing an additional 762,958 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $167,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,509.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,392,713.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $167,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,382,509.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wedbush boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.33.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $82.57 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.59 and a 52-week high of $89.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $81.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.29.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The business had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $631.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.71%.

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.