Dakota Wealth Management Acquires New Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 6,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,683,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,807,000 after buying an additional 2,968,716 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,313,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,210,000 after buying an additional 19,539 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after buying an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in East West Bancorp by 10.9% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,395,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,879,000 after acquiring an additional 334,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in East West Bancorp by 23.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,051,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $207,146,000 after acquiring an additional 391,059 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $103.96 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $123.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $112.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.41. The firm has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $753.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.82, for a total value of $5,891,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 808,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,237,558.42. This trade represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $169,099.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,553 shares in the company, valued at $1,612,807. This trade represents a 9.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,221 shares of company stock valued at $7,139,287 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Company 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.