East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $105.46.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $89.11 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.77.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.64%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 60,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,416,694 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in East West Bancorp by 108.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,282,000 after purchasing an additional 28,549 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,174,000 after buying an additional 632,245 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 100,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,699,000 after buying an additional 15,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 755,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,352,000 after buying an additional 68,528 shares during the period. 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.