Stephens Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Stephens from $120.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Stephens’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 10.23% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on EWBC. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.21.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $113.40 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.91. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $119.73. The firm has a market cap of $15.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.The firm had revenue of $754.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $1,017,325.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,950 shares in the company, valued at $1,719,698.50. This trade represents a 37.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $159,189.60. Following the sale, the director owned 7,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,339.88. This represents a 16.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,344 shares of company stock worth $8,184,226. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in East West Bancorp by 127.6% during the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.