East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Has Average Target Price of $144.46

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.46.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Stephens raised their price target on shares of 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $148.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. DA Davidson raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, August 19th.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC opened at $125.27 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.35. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $92.67 and a 1-year high of $137.47. The company has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.98.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 10.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack Liu sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total transaction of $135,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the bank serves consumers, businesses, institutions and nonprofit organizations through a range of banking and financial services.

East West Bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and residential real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, trade finance, treasury management, wealth management and other personal and business banking products.