East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Reaches New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $100.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. East West Bancorp traded as low as $68.70 and last traded at $69.46, with a volume of 279869 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.03.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.46.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 108.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,282,000 after purchasing an additional 28,549 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,174,000 after purchasing an additional 632,245 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 100,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,699,000 after buying an additional 15,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 755,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,352,000 after buying an additional 68,528 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 7.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.