East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.77.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EWBC shares. Citigroup upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ EWBC traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $100.80. 612,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 826,293. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $67.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The stock has a market cap of $13.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $641.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total value of $147,975.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,049,537.35. This represents a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 152.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,404,000 after buying an additional 225,799 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 520,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,079,000 after buying an additional 148,530 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $652,223,000 after buying an additional 136,528 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,734,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $149,287,000 after buying an additional 123,376 shares during the last quarter. 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.