East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Upgraded to “Buy” at UBS Group

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) was upgraded by research analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $125.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.69% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.93.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $109.95 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.39. The company has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $123.82.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total value of $858,130.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,842.68. The trade was a 57.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total value of $169,099.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,612,807. The trade was a 9.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,221 shares of company stock worth $7,139,287. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 108.8% in the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 22,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,356,000 after buying an additional 11,537 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 339,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,101,000 after buying an additional 18,696 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3,842.9% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after buying an additional 14,411 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 145.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 163,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,381,000 after buying an additional 96,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.9% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,395,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,879,000 after buying an additional 334,429 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.