East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $107.85.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $91.93. 1,101,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 924,865. The firm has a market cap of $12.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $85.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.19.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 25.73%. The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 102,281 shares of company stock worth $9,473,478. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.