Stephens Raises East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $104.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Stephens from $91.00 to $104.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Stephens’ target price suggests a potential upside of 8.75% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.77.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 5.8 %

EWBC opened at $95.63 on Thursday. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $51.40 and a fifty-two week high of $98.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.31 and a 200-day moving average of $78.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $13.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $302,668.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,392,713.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $302,668.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,392,713.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $166,411.92. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,621,111.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,346 shares of company stock worth $1,108,160. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $338,142,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,480,000 after purchasing an additional 118,658 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 82.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,687,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,502,000 after purchasing an additional 761,347 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 112.5% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,441,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,013,000 after acquiring an additional 762,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,460,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.