United Services Automobile Association Invests $806,000 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 shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.9% in 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 raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% in 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 own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 34.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 70,240 shares of company stock valued at $7,379,678. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of EWBC stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $109.38. 1,045,442 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 805,195. The stock's 50 day moving average is $104.62 and its 200-day moving average is $94.65. The company has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $705.00 million for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Nine equities research 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.64.

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.