East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $110.23.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 152.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,404,000 after buying an additional 225,799 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 520,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,079,000 after buying an additional 148,530 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,223,000 after acquiring an additional 136,528 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,734,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,287,000 after acquiring an additional 123,376 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $102.93 on Friday. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $67.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.