Brokerages Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target at $114.15

Key Points

• East West Bancorp has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with eight buy ratings and five hold ratings, along with a twelve-month price target of approximately $114.15.
• The CEO, Dominic Ng, recently sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock, which represents a 4.31% decrease in his ownership.
• The firm declared a $0.60 quarterly dividend, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.3%, with a payout ratio of 28.04%.

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $114.1538.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC traded up $2.12 on Friday, hitting $108.59. 848,548 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 676,329. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week 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 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.10. The stock has a market cap of $14.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.04%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total value of $697,378.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. The trade was a 34.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,572,270. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,601 shares of company stock valued at $6,543,972 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 99.0% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 13,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.0% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 77,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,012 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $142,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 22.6% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 982 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $205,000. 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.