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

Key Points

• Analysts rate East West Bancorp “Moderate Buy.” Eleven analysts recommend buying the stock and four recommend holding it, with an average 12-month price target of $144.46 versus a recent price of $126.21.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting $2.63 in EPS and $789.98 million in revenue, while revenue increased 12.5% year over year. Analysts expect full-year EPS of $10.63.
• East West Bancorp pays a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, equivalent to a $3.20 annual dividend and a 2.5% yield; institutional investors own 89.53% of the company, while insiders have recently sold shares.

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.46.

EWBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $148.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $126.21 on Monday. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $92.67 and a 52 week high of $137.47. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $129.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.89. The firm has a market cap of $17.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $789.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $105,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jack C. 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 value of $135,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Marathon Mission Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.8% in 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 period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,018,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 20.5% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 695 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 11,143 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,190,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 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. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.