Boston Partners Reduces Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Boston Partners lessened its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,838,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,008 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $431,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,530,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its stake in 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in 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 grew its stake in 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, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 3,842.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 14,411 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.9%

EWBC stock opened at $132.63 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.59. 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 52-week low of $90.79 and a 52-week high of $132.88. The firm has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted 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 business had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total transaction of $3,704,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total value of $1,446,219.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,998 shares in the company, valued at $11,093,742. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,511 shares of company stock worth $6,678,159. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

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.