De Lisle Partners LLP Purchases Shares of 33,000 East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Key Points

• De Lisle Partners LLP has invested approximately $2.96 million in East West Bancorp by acquiring 33,000 shares in the 1st quarter.
• East West Bancorp's stock has received several upgrades from analysts, with a current average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $114.15.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60, representing an annualized yield of 2.31%, with a payout ratio of 28.04%.

De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 33,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,963,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,485 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 33.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,150 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 58,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,235,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 21.3% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,100 shares of company stock worth $8,191,984 over the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Citigroup raised 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. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded down $1.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $98.80. 1,261,078 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,049,378. 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's fifty day moving average price is $99.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.81. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.93.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. During the same period in the previous 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. Analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.