Brokerages Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) PT at $83.15

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.42.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Compass Point upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 6.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 69,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,590,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $72.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $41.12 and a 12-month high of $79.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.83.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 29.11%. The company had revenue of $654.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 26.89%.

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.