East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Has Average Price Target of $144.38 According to Analysts

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $144.77.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. Stephens increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $164.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $132.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $128.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.13. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $98.30 and a 52 week high of $137.47. The stock has a market cap of $18.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.99.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $822.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.07 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.75% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 10.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $105,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,894,248.38. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344 over the last 90 days. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 13.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Marathon Mission Inc. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marathon Mission Inc. now owns 2,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. The bank serves businesses, professionals, consumers and institutions through a range of deposit, lending and financial services.

Its products and services include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential and consumer lending, checking and savings accounts, treasury management, international banking, wealth management and foreign-exchange services.