West Family Investments Inc. Takes Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.15.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC traded down $1.52 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $129.25. 655,537 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 973,722. The stock has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $131.37 and a 200 day moving average of $122.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.67 and a 52 week high of $137.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The company had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.47 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene Oh sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total transaction of $106,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 84,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,280,926.62. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total value of $135,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,511 shares of company stock worth $3,077,741. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.