Analysts Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target at $92.77

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $92.77.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 3.8 %

EWBC stock opened at $88.33 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.56. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $50.23 and a fifty-two week 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 cap of $12.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,621,111.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,382,509.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total value of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,470 shares in the company, valued at $1,621,111.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Michael S. Ryan Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $200,000. Creative Planning increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 6.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Tobam increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 131.7% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 28.2% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.