Jefferies Financial Group Lowers East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $85.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $94.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 16.12% from the company’s current price.

EWBC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Compass Point boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.77.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock traded down $0.69 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.20. The stock had a trading volume of 139,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,048,582. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $49.59 and a 1-year high of $79.54. The stock has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $338,142,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $115,369,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $67,692,000. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,713,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,279,000 after purchasing an additional 886,841 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 112.5% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,441,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,013,000 after acquiring an additional 762,958 shares during the period. 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.