Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,742 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 82.6% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 44.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 179.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.5%

EWBC opened at $117.83 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $123.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $754.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. Analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 33.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on EWBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial set a $121.00 target price on East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total value of $169,099.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,612,807. This represents a 9.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total transaction of $858,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,842.68. This trade represents a 57.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 120,585 shares of company stock worth $14,016,504. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.