Old West Investment Management LLC Takes $4.29 Million Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Old West Investment Management LLC has acquired a $4.29 million stake in East West Bancorp, purchasing 47,795 shares, which represent about 1.5% of its total holdings.
• East West Bancorp reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.28, surpassing analyst expectations and marking a 10.3% year-over-year revenue growth to $705 million.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.3%, maintaining a payout ratio of 28.04%.

Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 47,795 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,290,000. East West Bancorp makes up about 1.5% of Old West Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of EWBC. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 448.9% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $105.20 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $102.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business 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. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 28.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,572,270. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Profile

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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