East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. UBS Group began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.23.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $102.93 on Friday. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $67.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $101.30 and its 200-day moving average is $91.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AXA S.A. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 93,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,824,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 299,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,687,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 152.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,404,000 after purchasing an additional 225,799 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 362.4% during the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 21,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,545,000 after purchasing an additional 16,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 8.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.