Piper Sandler Increases East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $92.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective hoisted by Piper Sandler from $72.50 to $92.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on EWBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $88.60.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $87.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.32. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $49.59 and a twelve month high of $88.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.61 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. East West Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 directly owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,867,632.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $338,142,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th 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 $67,692,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,713,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,279,000 after acquiring an additional 886,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 112.5% during 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 during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently 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.