Earnest Partners LLC Takes Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC has acquired a new position in East West Bancorp, buying approximately 1.53 million shares worth about $137.4 million, representing 1.11% of the company.
• CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares for over $4.1 million, reducing his ownership by 4.31%, while several hedge funds have recently increased their stakes in East West Bancorp.
• Analysts are optimistic about East West Bancorp's stock, with multiple firms raising their price targets, now ranging from $110 to $135, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,530,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $137,390,000. Earnest Partners LLC owned 1.11% of East West Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $83,330,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 203.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 547,556 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 6,571.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 460,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,311,000 after acquiring an additional 453,342 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 10,357.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 367,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,985,000 after acquiring an additional 363,963 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction 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 owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. The trade was a 34.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,601 shares of company stock worth $6,543,972. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC traded down $0.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $105.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 717,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 736,320. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $103.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.85. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.The firm had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.3%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio 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.