East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

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

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,537.35. This represents a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $852,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $221,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded down $2.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $99.61. 768,739 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 919,511. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $67.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a PE 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 two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.03.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on EWBC. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Finally, Compass Point raised their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.38.

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.