East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target Increased to $104.00 by Analysts at Stephens

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target hoisted by Stephens from $91.00 to $104.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wedbush lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.46.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock traded down $0.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $96.33. The stock had a trading volume of 67,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 928,182. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $52.29 and a 1 year high of $98.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 25.40% and a return on equity of 16.64%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.2 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,343.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $167,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,509.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $3,961,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,832,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 197.8% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,535 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $909,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $852,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.