Jupiter Topco LLC Makes New Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 61,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,939,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EWBC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $1,744,958,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,967,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,981,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,822,000 after purchasing an additional 106,998 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,620,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,329,000 after buying an additional 306,916 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,464,000 after buying an additional 633,649 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total value of $1,323,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,248.38. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total value of $1,446,219.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,093,742. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,511 shares of company stock valued at $3,077,741 over the last quarter. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Stephens upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.92.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $129.44 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.94. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.67 and a 52-week high of $137.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $131.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $789.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The company’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 30.77%.

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.