Piper Sandler Raises East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target 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 objective raised by analysts at Piper Sandler from $100.00 to $104.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Piper Sandler's target price suggests a potential downside of 5.22% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Eight 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.08.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded up $2.15 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $109.73. 535,915 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,003,456. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $104.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.11.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.The company had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $702.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. East West Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total transaction of $697,378.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. This represents a 34.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total transaction of $1,606,393.23. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 113,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,098,165.69. This trade represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,601 shares of company stock worth $6,543,972 in the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 155.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $692,468,000 after purchasing an additional 4,696,157 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $174,431,000. Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $137,390,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $83,330,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.6% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,241,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $327,271,000 after buying an additional 920,159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

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.

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