East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target Raised to $104.00

Key Points

• Piper Sandler has raised East West Bancorp's price target from $100.00 to $104.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating, suggesting a potential downside of 5.22% from the stock's previous close.
• The stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a consensus target price of $116.08, indicating positive sentiment among eight analysts rating it as a Buy.
• East West Bancorp reported an EPS of $2.28 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with a revenue up 10.3% compared to the previous year.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $100.00 to $104.00 in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Piper Sandler's price target indicates a potential downside of 4.92% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on EWBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.64.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $0.11 on Monday, reaching $109.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,045,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,968. The stock's 50-day moving average is $104.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.63. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The business had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $702.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total transaction of $1,606,393.23. Following the transaction, the insider owned 113,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,098,165.69. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the second quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.7% during the first quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 15.7% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 906 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 0.7% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 21,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.6% during the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 5,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

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.