East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Reaches New 52-Week High at $88.97

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $88.97 and last traded at $88.80, with a volume of 131525 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Stephens lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.60.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.61 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp 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 owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,867,632.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,346 shares of company stock worth $1,834,960 over the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position 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 worth $231,370,000 after purchasing an additional 751,944 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $39,347,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 103,117 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $3,961,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 11,208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.