East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Trading Down 5.7%

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC – Get Rating) were down 5.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $54.77 and last traded at $55.05. Approximately 355,494 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,318,039 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $63.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.29.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $72.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.15. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 43.06% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $826.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $654.24 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 6th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,319,472. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Irene H. Oh purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $49.51 per share, for a total transaction of $495,100.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 124,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,185,036.75. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,136 shares in the company, valued at $1,319,472. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,089,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $945,976,000 after purchasing an additional 72,205 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,013,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $396,572,000 after purchasing an additional 93,530 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 25.0% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,774,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,315 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,145,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,484,000 after purchasing an additional 259,338 shares during the period. Finally, CI Investments Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,823,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,985,000 after purchasing an additional 671,054 shares during the period. 88.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About East West Bancorp

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East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following business segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other. The Consumer and Business Banking segment provides financial service products and services to consumer and commercial customers through the company’s branch network in the U.S.