Hovde Group Initiates Coverage on East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Key Points

• Hovde Group initiated coverage of East West Bancorp with an “outperform” rating and a $153 price target, implying 16.82% upside from the prior close.
• Analysts’ overall view is positive: 12 rate the stock Buy and four Hold, giving it a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target of $145.71.
• East West Bancorp beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $2.76 and revenue of $822.72 million; revenue rose 5.8% year over year.

Stock analysts at Hovde Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $153.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock. Hovde Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 16.82% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $164.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. 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. Wall Street Zen raised East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.71.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $130.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $98.72 and a one year high of $137.47. The stock has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.45.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.75% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 10.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $105,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total value of $135,020.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at $1,850,989.18. This trade represents a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 36,787 shares of company stock valued at $4,861,805 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $12,569,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 20.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 21,049 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,609,000 after buying an additional 3,570 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,757 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 723,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,610,000 after buying an additional 9,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,601 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,760,000 after buying an additional 8,672 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is the holding company for East West Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the bank initially served Chinese American communities in Southern California and has since expanded its services and geographic reach.

East West Bank provides personal and business banking, commercial lending, trade finance, treasury management and other financial services. Its customers include individuals, small and midsize businesses, and larger companies, with a focus on supporting commerce between the United States and Asia.

The bank operates across several U.S.

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