East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.46.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $97.35 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $54.23 and a 52-week high of $101.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.59 and its 200 day moving average is $79.46. The company has a market cap of $13.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.29.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,537.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $167,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,509.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,299,975. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $3,961,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $3,832,000. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 197.8% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after buying an additional 10,535 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $909,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $852,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.