Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Invests $1.06 Million in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 8,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,063,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after buying an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,981,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,822,000 after buying an additional 106,998 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,620,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,329,000 after acquiring an additional 306,916 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after acquiring an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,713,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,619,000 after acquiring an additional 318,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson boosted 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. Truist Financial upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.77.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of EWBC opened at $135.07 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $131.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.67 and a 1-year high of $137.47.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 30.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total transaction of $135,020.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at $1,850,989.18. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total value of $1,446,219.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 85,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,093,742. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,511 shares of company stock worth $4,312,741. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp 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.