East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $117.00 and last traded at $115.98, with a volume of 112072 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $114.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. TD Cowen began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $139.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.69.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $104.56 and a 200 day moving average of $103.57.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $627.36 million for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 15.55%. Sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 26.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total transaction of $1,000,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,820. The trade was a 18.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 12,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $1,442,905.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 93,167 shares in the company, valued at $10,714,205. This trade represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 65,891 shares of company stock valued at $7,335,330. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth $26,000. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 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.