Hsbc Holdings PLC Trims Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its stake in East West Bancorp by 65.1%, holding 7,424 shares worth $666,000 after selling 13,833 shares in the first quarter.
• East West Bancorp recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60, with a dividend yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 28.04%.
• Analysts have elevated their target prices for East West Bancorp, with the average target now at $114.15 and several analysts rating the stock as "Buy" or "Outperform."

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 65.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,833 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 22.9% in 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 during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 29,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 14,952 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,258 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 105,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,085,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,899 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,544,000 after acquiring an additional 12,624 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 888,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total value of $1,606,393.23. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 113,353 shares in the company, valued at $12,098,165.69. This trade represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,601 shares of company stock valued at $6,543,972 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of EWBC opened at $105.14 on Monday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.82. 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 has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a P/E 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 earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $705.00 million during 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%. East West Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 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.

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