East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $128.2143.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EWBC. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total transaction of $1,000,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 45,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,820. This represents a 18.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,453 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.90, for a total value of $848,896.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,714 shares in the company, valued at $9,762,824.60. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 73,344 shares of company stock valued at $8,184,226. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ticino Wealth acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $337,000. Novem Group purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,235,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Seeds Investor LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 4,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 121,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

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

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

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 25.21%.

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.