East West Bancorp (EWBC) – Investment Analysts’ Recent Ratings Changes

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ: EWBC) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

• 4/25/2024 – East West Bancorp had its price target lowered by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $90.00 to $86.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/24/2024 – East West Bancorp had its price target raised by analysts at Stephens from $85.00 to $86.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 4/24/2024 – East West Bancorp had its price target raised by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $82.00 to $85.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/24/2024 – East West Bancorp had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $90.00 price target on the stock.
• 4/8/2024 – East West Bancorp had its price target raised by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from $86.00 to $88.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/1/2024 – East West Bancorp had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $85.00 to $90.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/13/2024 – East West Bancorp had its price target raised by analysts at Compass Point from $83.00 to $88.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/13/2024 – East West Bancorp had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $85.00 to $91.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock opened at $77.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.11. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.60 and a 52 week high of $79.54. The stock has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 127,193 shares in the company, valued at $9,867,632.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,625 shares of company stock valued at $1,048,508 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.4% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 112.5% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,441,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,013,000 after purchasing an additional 762,958 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.9% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 168,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,343,000 after buying an additional 3,176 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised 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 worth $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 10,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.7% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.