East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $105.46.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 2.6 %

EWBC stock opened at $89.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.77. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 25.73%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. Equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 60,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,416,694 over the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 448.9% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.