Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 39,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,260,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during 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 buying an additional 5,305,257 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $199,529,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 281.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,607,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,647,000 after buying an additional 1,185,781 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after acquiring an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,207,000 after acquiring an additional 542,149 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares in the company, valued at $87,422,275.70. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,231 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,152.05. This represents a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $129.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.94. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $92.67 and a one year high of $136.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $124.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.13.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. East West Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.38.

East West Bancorp Profile

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.