Strs Ohio Acquires 107,000 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 412,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 107,000 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $29,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in East West Bancorp by 6.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 5.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 69,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,590,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 65.1% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Compass Point boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.15.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $72.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.39. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.12 and a twelve month high of $79.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.36.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $654.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.91 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 29.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.91% 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.