Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,075 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.7% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 14,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Clark Financial Services Group Inc. BD increased its position in East West Bancorp by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Financial Services Group Inc. BD now owns 6,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 16,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 14,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,559,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,045,000 after purchasing an additional 187,433 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.82, for a total transaction of $5,891,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 808,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,237,558.42. This trade represents a 5.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $1,017,325.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719,698.50. The trade was a 37.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 112,364 shares of company stock worth $12,975,827. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EWBC. UBS Group set a $125.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price objective on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $133.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.14.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 2.6%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $117.66 on Thursday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $119.73. The company has a market capitalization of $16.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $754.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.