East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $90.75, but opened at $93.24. East West Bancorp shares last traded at $81.81, with a volume of 260,582 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.81, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.59 and its 200 day moving average is $95.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 28.81%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,687,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,849,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.