East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• East West Bancorp has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from thirteen analysts, with an average 1-year price target of $114.15.
• Recently, several brokerages upgraded their target prices, with Wells Fargo raising it to $125.00 and Barclays to $135.00, both issuing "overweight" ratings.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.40 and a yield of 2.4%.

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $114.1538.

Several brokerages have commented on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total transaction of $3,857,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,191,984 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 21,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $99.26 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $100.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.76. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $13.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The firm had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. East West Bancorp's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.04%.

About East West Bancorp

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.

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