Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 39,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,260,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $1,530,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 22,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 11,537 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 339,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,101,000 after purchasing an additional 18,696 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,395,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,879,000 after purchasing an additional 334,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,044,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total transaction of $3,704,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares in the company, valued at $87,422,275.70. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,661,152.05. This trade represents a 11.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.5%

EWBC stock opened at $129.56 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $124.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.13. The stock has a market cap of $17.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 1.57 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 0.34. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.67 and a twelve month high of $136.00.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The company had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 31.97%.

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.