Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires New Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management acquired 19,564 shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. during the 2nd quarter, worth approximately $1.98 million, indicating a significant investment interest in the financial services provider.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with several upgrades in price targets, including Barclays raising their target from $110.00 to $135.00, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from "hold" to "sell."
• The company reported a 10.3% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.28, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.23.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 19,564 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,976,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 60.0% in the second quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 89.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cowen assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $118.13.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $108.36 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $104.67 and its 200 day moving average is $95.82. 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 market cap of $14.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $705.00 million for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total value of $1,606,393.23. Following the transaction, the insider owned 113,353 shares in the company, valued at $12,098,165.69. The trade was a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total transaction of $4,135,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp 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.

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