Maltese Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Maltese Capital Management LLC reduced its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $5,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 38.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,683,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,807,000 after buying an additional 2,968,716 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $174,431,000. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.6% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,241,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,271,000 after acquiring an additional 920,159 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 840,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,861,000 after acquiring an additional 687,145 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,207,000 after acquiring an additional 542,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,894.36. This represents a 23.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.90, for a total transaction of $848,896.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,762,824.60. This trade represents a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 80,221 shares of company stock worth $9,431,089 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $103.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $114.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.55. The company has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.90. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $123.82.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $753.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 33.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Truist Financial set a $121.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.21.

About East West Bancorp

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.