Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires New Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,123,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 108.8% in the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 22,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,356,000 after buying an additional 11,537 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 339,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,101,000 after acquiring an additional 18,696 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 3,842.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after acquiring an additional 14,411 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 145.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 163,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,381,000 after acquiring an additional 96,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,395,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,879,000 after purchasing an additional 334,429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $706,894.36. This represents a 23.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total value of $858,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,842.68. This trade represents a 57.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,221 shares of company stock worth $7,139,287 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $103.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.37. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $123.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $14.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $753.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. On average, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.21.

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.