East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $132.88 and last traded at $133.6960, with a volume of 1000596 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $132.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.5%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $122.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.97%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total transaction of $1,446,219.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,093,742. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after acquiring an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,981,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,822,000 after acquiring an additional 106,998 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,620,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,329,000 after acquiring an additional 306,916 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after acquiring an additional 633,649 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,713,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,619,000 after acquiring an additional 318,303 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About East West Bancorp

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.