Analysts Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Target Price at $83.15

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $83.15.

EWBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $71.80. The stock had a trading volume of 780,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,212,058. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $41.12 and a fifty-two week high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 29.11%. The company had revenue of $654.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.37 EPS. The company's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 26.89%.

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.