United Services Automobile Association Buys New Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp worth approximately $806,000 during the first quarter of 2023, adding to significant institutional investment in the company, which now has 89.53% of its shares held by institutional investors.
• CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares at an average price of $103.38, reducing his ownership by 4.31%, while insiders have sold a total of 70,240 shares valued at $7.37 million over the last three months.
• East West Bancorp recently reported an EPS of $2.28 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60, reflecting a 2.2% dividend yield.

United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,046 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 44.3% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 197,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,749,000 after acquiring an additional 60,667 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $802,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $263,000. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $7,323,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,712,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $4,135,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $91,833,901.32. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the firm'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 owned 12,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,302,660.45. This trade represents a 34.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,240 shares of company stock valued at $7,379,678 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $109.61 on Tuesday. 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's 50 day moving average price is $104.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.22. The company has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. On average, analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 28.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on EWBC. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.08.

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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