Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 12,912 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Endeavour Capital Advisors cut its East West Bancorp stake by 76.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,912 shares and leaving it with 4,029 shares worth about $453,000.
• Analysts remain bullish on EWBC, with 10 Buy ratings and 5 Hold ratings; the average price target is $133.69 after several firms recently raised their targets.
• East West Bancorp reported solid results, posting $2.57 EPS and revenue of $773.75 million in its latest quarter, both above expectations, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share.

Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 76.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,912 shares during the quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EWBC. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in East West Bancorp by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 6,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.3% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EWBC shares. Stephens increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $133.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,422,275.70. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total value of $225,990.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,661,152.05. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $123.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.26 and a 52 week high of $127.51.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The firm had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.97%.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.

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