Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires New Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 10,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $986,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,223,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,763,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,152,000 after buying an additional 96,729 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,438,000 after buying an additional 122,738 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,287,000 after acquiring an additional 123,376 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $93.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.54. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $68.78 and a one year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp 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.