East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $144.46

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.08.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EWBC. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $148.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $125.53 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $129.22 and its 200 day moving average is $125.51. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $92.67 and a twelve 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.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 30.77%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack Liu sold 1,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total transaction of $135,020.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at $1,850,989.18. This trade represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total transaction of $1,323,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marathon Mission Inc. boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the second quarter. Marathon Mission Inc. now owns 2,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 11,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the bank serves consumers, businesses, institutions and nonprofit organizations through a range of banking and financial services.

East West Bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and residential real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, trade finance, treasury management, wealth management and other personal and business banking products.