Brokerages Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target at $144.15

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.1538.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $126.18 on Thursday. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $92.67 and a 12-month high of $137.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.36.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.77%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total transaction of $135,020.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This trade represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $105,624.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marathon Mission Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marathon Mission Inc. now owns 2,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 6,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 20.5% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 11,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: EWBC) is the holding company for East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through its East West Bank subsidiary.

East West Bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgage services, wealth management, treasury management, and international banking services. Its products support commercial real estate, commercial and industrial businesses, residential borrowers, and consumers.

The bank has a particular focus on serving communities and businesses connected to the United States and Greater China.