Blueshift Asset Management LLC Takes $299,000 Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC has acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp, purchasing 3,331 shares valued at about $299,000 during the first quarter.
• Analysts have generally positive views on East West Bancorp, with multiple firms raising their price targets and assigning ratings ranging from "buy" to "overweight."
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings of $2.28 per share, exceeding estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60, leading to an annualized yield of 2.4% for shareholders.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,331 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $1,086,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 26,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,416,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc raised its position in East West Bancorp by 117.0% during the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,772 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 4,730 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,963,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 22.5% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 29,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $89,517,319.02. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,100 shares of company stock worth $8,191,984 over the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 37,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,040,354. The business's 50 day moving average is $100.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.76. The firm has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month 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.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 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 the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%. East West Bancorp's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.04%.

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.