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

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $138.3077.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EWBC. DA Davidson raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $133.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $92.67 and a 52-week high of $136.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.21.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The firm had revenue of $791.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 10.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,661,152.05. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total value of $1,446,219.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,093,742. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,311 shares of company stock worth $6,784,711. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after acquiring an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $199,529,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 281.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,607,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185,781 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,464,000 after purchasing an additional 633,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,207,000 after purchasing an additional 542,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting East West Bancorp

Here are the key news stories impacting East West Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: East West Bancorp reported Q2 2026 EPS of $2.63, ahead of the $2.61 consensus estimate, and earnings rose from $2.24 a year ago. East West Bancorp earnings report and conference call link
• Positive Sentiment: The company said net income reached $364 million and total revenue hit a record, signaling strong operating performance. East West Bancorp Q2 2026 results press release
• Positive Sentiment: Loans and deposits both reached new records at $59.0 billion and $70.1 billion, respectively, showing continued business expansion and funding strength. East West Bancorp Q2 2026 results press release
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability remained solid, with return on average common equity of 16.0% and book value per share up 13% year over year. East West Bancorp Q2 2026 results press release
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recap articles and the earnings call transcript focused on the same core message: East West Bancorp beat expectations and delivered record revenue, reinforcing the upbeat reaction. East West Bancorp Q2 2026 earnings call transcript

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.