CIBC Asset Management Inc Grows Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $30,000. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Tobam lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 131.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,740,210. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EWBC. Barclays increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Stephens lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Compass Point upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.25.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $107.00 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $60.34 and a one year high of $108.50. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $91.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.