Corebridge Financial Inc. Cuts Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in East West Bancorp by 2.4%, selling 3,742 shares in the 1st quarter and now owns 153,116 shares valued at approximately $13.74 million.
• East West Bancorp's earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter was reported at $2.28, beating estimates, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60, implying a 2.3% dividend yield.
• Analyst ratings for East West Bancorp reflect a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $114.15, with eight analysts recommending buy and five suggesting hold.

Corebridge Financial Inc. trimmed its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,742 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. owned about 0.11% of East West Bancorp worth $13,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 155.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $692,468,000 after acquiring an additional 4,696,157 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,733,102 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $424,843,000 after acquiring an additional 314,262 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,005,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $359,525,000 after acquiring an additional 46,717 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,701,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $152,739,000 after acquiring an additional 32,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,226,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $117,414,000 after acquiring an additional 228,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC traded down $0.82 on Monday, reaching $105.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 717,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 709,017. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $103.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.87. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $4,135,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,572,270. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,601 shares of company stock valued at $6,543,972. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EWBC. Barclays upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.15.

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.