East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 5.1%, selling 3,698 shares and leaving them with 69,038 shares valued at $6.2 million.
• East West Bancorp reported $2.28 earnings per share for the recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.23, while revenue increased by 10.3% year-over-year to $705 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.4% and a dividend payout ratio of 28.04%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,698 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $6,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 155.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $692,468,000 after acquiring an additional 4,696,157 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $83,330,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 203.0% in the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 817,306 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,361,000 after acquiring an additional 547,556 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 10,357.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 367,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,985,000 after acquiring an additional 363,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,876,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $179,688,000 after acquiring an additional 324,410 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on EWBC. 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 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded up $4.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $105.20. The company had a trading volume of 935,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 749,619. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.68. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

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.