Davis Investment Partners LLC Takes $655,000 Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Davis Investment Partners LLC has acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp, purchasing 6,247 shares valued at approximately $655,000.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their positions in East West Bancorp, with Wellington Management Group boosting their stake by 6,571.1% during the first quarter.
• East West Bancorp reported earnings of $2.28 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showing a 10.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Davis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,247 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 155.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $692,468,000 after buying an additional 4,696,157 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $137,390,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $83,330,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 203.0% during the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 817,306 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,361,000 after buying an additional 547,556 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 6,571.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 460,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,311,000 after buying an additional 453,342 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.64.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $109.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.65. The firm has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The firm had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total value of $697,378.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at $1,302,660.45. The trade was a 34.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of East West Bancorp 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 owned 14,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,572,270. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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