East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Short Interest Update

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,030,000 shares, a decline of 6.1% from the November 15th total of 4,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 809,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC traded down $2.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $99.88. 581,957 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 918,865. The company has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.03. 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 has a 12-month low of $67.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was 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 owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total value of $147,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,537.35. This represents a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.17.

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.