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

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.85.

A number of equities analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson cut 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.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total value of $3,857,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares in the company, valued at $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the first 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 during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded down $2.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $105.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 314,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 929,891. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $96.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.23%. On average, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.64%.

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.