East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Compass Point Analyst Says

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its target price increased by Compass Point from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Compass Point currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.17.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of EWBC opened at $103.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $14.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.08, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.19. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. 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 at East West Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total value of $147,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,537.35. This represents a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $278,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $852,000. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.7% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 72.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the last quarter. 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.