OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Purchases New Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired 33,400 shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. for approximately $2.998 million, marking a significant investment in the financial services provider.
• A majority of the stock, about 89.53%, is currently held by institutional investors and hedge funds, indicating strong institutional support.
• East West Bancorp reported earnings per share of $2.28 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 33,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,998,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in East West Bancorp by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,226,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $117,414,000 after purchasing an additional 228,825 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 456,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,668,000 after purchasing an additional 108,883 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $2,858,000 after purchasing an additional 14,952 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,258 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total value of $697,378.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at $1,302,660.45. This trade represents a 34.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total transaction of $4,135,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,601 shares of company stock worth $6,543,972 in the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $106.88. 136,615 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,002,304. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50 day moving average price is $104.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.04.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The firm's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.04%.

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.