East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Has Average Target Price of $144.38 According to Brokerages

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.38.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on East West Bancorp from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $130.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.00 and a 200 day moving average of $122.95. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $98.08 and a one year high of $137.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $822.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.07 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 10.73 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $105,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total value of $1,323,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 36,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,894,248.38. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344 over the last 90 days. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Marathon Mission Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marathon Mission Inc. now owns 2,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. The bank serves businesses, professionals, consumers and institutions through a range of deposit, lending and financial services.

Its products and services include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential and consumer lending, checking and savings accounts, treasury management, international banking, wealth management and foreign-exchange services.