East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,800,000 shares, a decline of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 4,030,000 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 890,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Compass Point increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.77.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded down $0.52 on Wednesday, hitting $95.76. 609,929 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 928,252. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $67.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $102.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.02.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, 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 transaction of $147,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 490.1% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.