East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target Raised to $120.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on EWBC. Wedbush upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.92.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $105.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $97.31 and a 200 day moving average of $84.44. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $66.68 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.78%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at $11,543,510.50. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.