Ieq Capital LLC Purchases 8,983 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 101.8% in Q1, acquiring an additional 8,983 shares, bringing their total to 17,804 shares valued at $1.6 million.
• CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares in July, decreasing his ownership by 4.31%, while insider transactions in total resulted in over $6.5 million from 62,601 shares sold in the last three months.
• East West Bancorp recently reported earnings of $2.28 per share, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60, reflecting a yield of 2.3%.

Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 101.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,804 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,983 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Old West Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,290,000. Comerica Bank lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 177,327 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,917,000 after acquiring an additional 63,327 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 20.2% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 91.4% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 34,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,117,000 after acquiring an additional 16,581 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.7%

East West Bancorp stock traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.47. The company had a trading volume of 891,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 676,937. The stock has a market cap of $14.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $104.09 and a 200 day moving average of $94.04.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.3%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total transaction of $697,378.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. This represents a 34.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 113,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,098,165.69. The trade was 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 worth $6,543,972 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted 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 report on Friday, July 11th. Eight investment 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.15.

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.