Centaurus Financial Inc. Reduces Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Centaurus Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 282 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,370,000 after acquiring an additional 751,944 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 40,757.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,437,000 after acquiring an additional 103,117 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 17,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 11,208 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 31,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 377,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,138,000 after acquiring an additional 46,416 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.41. The stock had a trading volume of 577,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 636,810. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.65 and a fifty-two week high of $79.54. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.13. The firm has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.33.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.71%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,234,045.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on EWBC. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.08.

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.