Analysts Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) PT at $110.38

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $110.38.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $100,000. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 29,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 14,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 456,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,668,000 after acquiring an additional 108,883 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $98.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $68.78 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.08.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.81%.

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.