East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $89.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average is $95.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $68.78 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % 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 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,849,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About East West Bancorp

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.