East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Short Interest Up 33.5% in March

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,340,000 shares, an increase of 33.5% from the March 15th total of 3,250,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock traded up $5.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $84.59. 3,189,068 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 925,806. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $86.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 25.73%. The firm had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.81%.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at $1,654,444. This trade represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,174,000 after acquiring an additional 632,245 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $228,269,000 after purchasing an additional 447,057 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $289,052,000 after purchasing an additional 437,676 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 10,357.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 367,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,985,000 after purchasing an additional 363,963 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on EWBC shares. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley downgraded East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.46.

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.