Legal & General Group Plc Acquires New Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 178,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,101,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.92.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.2%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $129.44 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.67 and a 52 week high of $137.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.39.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $789.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.24 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.77%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total value of $106,552.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 84,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,280,926.62. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total transaction of $1,323,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,248.38. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,511 shares of company stock worth $3,077,741. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

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.