Capital International Investors Cuts Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Capital International Investors cut its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 3.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,788,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 340,100 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 0.06% of East West Bancorp worth $935,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in East West Bancorp by 145.5% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 163,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,381,000 after purchasing an additional 96,760 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3,842.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 14,411 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 156.5% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 37,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,035,000 after purchasing an additional 23,125 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 21.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 10.9% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,395,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,879,000 after buying an additional 334,429 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.21.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $107.65 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $123.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $115.25 and a 200 day moving average of $109.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $753.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.61%.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,894.36. This trade represents a 23.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total value of $858,130.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,252 shares in the company, valued at $643,842.68. The trade was a 57.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 119,065 shares of company stock worth $13,857,314 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.