East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

Key Points

• East West Bancorp has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Cantor Fitzgerald, indicating strong confidence in the stock's future performance.
• Wells Fargo & Company has increased their target price for East West Bancorp from $100 to $125, while Barclays set a higher target of $135.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a 10.3% year-over-year revenue increase with earnings per share of $2.28, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock.

EWBC has been the subject of several other research reports. DA Davidson upped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $116.64.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $107.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $14.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.41.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 14,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,572,270. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total transaction of $697,378.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. This represents a 34.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by 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.