Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $115.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.85.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.33. The company had a trading volume of 434,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 920,050. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.49. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. On average, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,281 shares of company stock valued at $9,473,478 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,023,000 after purchasing an additional 15,829 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $256,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company 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.