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

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from $110.00 to $135.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on EWBC. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.85.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:EWBC traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $107.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 447,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 931,559. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.68 and a 200-day moving average of $92.82. 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 has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid 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 2.24%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total transaction of $3,857,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during 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 in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 60.0% during the second quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.