Citigroup Inc. Decreases Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in East West Bancorp by 6.3%, owning 125,355 shares valued at approximately $11.25 million after selling 8,488 shares in the first quarter.
• East West Bancorp reported earnings of $2.28 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $705 million, up 10.3% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, yielding 2.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 28.04% for the year.

Citigroup Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,488 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.09% of East West Bancorp worth $11,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.1% during the first 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. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,876,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $179,688,000 after purchasing an additional 324,410 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,701,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $152,739,000 after purchasing an additional 32,855 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,226,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $117,414,000 after purchasing an additional 228,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 547,556 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $100.71. 906,879 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 768,837. 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 one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The stock has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $102.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.66.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $705.00 million for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.04%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.