East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) PT Lowered to $105.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $106.00 to $105.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Compass Point boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $84.00.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.2 %

EWBC opened at $71.90 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.33. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $49.59 and a 12 month high of $79.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.08 and a 200 day moving average of $73.45.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. UBS Group AG boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 99,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,263,000 after buying an additional 46,249 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 123,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,528,000 after purchasing an additional 43,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,894,000 after purchasing an additional 193,850 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.