Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

Key Points

• East West Bancorp's price target has been raised from $124.00 to $134.00 by Citigroup, indicating a potential upside of 21.30% from its current trading price.
• The stock has received eight "Buy" ratings and five "Hold" ratings from various analysts, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• During the last quarter, East West Bancorp reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS), exceeding expectations and showing a 10.3% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Citigroup from $124.00 to $134.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.64.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $109.38. 1,045,442 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 785,968. The company has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.97. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $104.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.63. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $113.95.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $1,302,660.45. The trade was a 34.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,240 shares of company stock valued at $7,379,678 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 38.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,683,377 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,078,807,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968,716 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,819,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $486,650,000 after acquiring an additional 86,171 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.2% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,294,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $433,640,000 after acquiring an additional 134,541 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.2% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,005,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $359,525,000 after acquiring an additional 46,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.6% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,241,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $327,271,000 after acquiring an additional 920,159 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.