East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Receives $128.14 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $128.1429.

EWBC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research cut East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Truist Financial set a $121.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,894.36. This represents a 23.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 12,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $1,442,905.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 93,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,714,205. This represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 119,065 shares of company stock worth $13,857,314 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in East West Bancorp by 145.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 163,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,381,000 after acquiring an additional 96,760 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 249.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 13,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,363 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 90.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 311,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,428,000 after purchasing an additional 147,792 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 2,084.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,665,000 after purchasing an additional 50,785 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $114.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $116.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.96. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $123.82.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced 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. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $754.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.61%.

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.