Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $256,000 Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 3,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 490.1% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $110.05 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.41. The company has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.34 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total value of $147,975.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,537.35. This trade represents a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 in the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.