Brokerages Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Target Price at $141.77

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $141.7692.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $135.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.69. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $92.67 and a fifty-two week high of $137.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 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 0.33.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.24 earnings per share. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.77%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total transaction of $106,552.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 84,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,280,926.62. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total value of $1,323,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 36,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,894,248.38. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 33,511 shares of company stock valued at $4,312,741 in the last three months. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $205,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $3,425,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $576,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,439,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.