East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given New $95.00 Price Target at Stephens

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective upped by Stephens from $86.00 to $95.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $88.60.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.1 %

East West Bancorp stock opened at $87.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.93. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $49.59 and a fifty-two week high of $88.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.33. The firm has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.32.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. The firm 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.15 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,193 shares in the company, valued at $9,867,632.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly 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. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently 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. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.6% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 649,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,578,000 after acquiring an additional 152,334 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $216,000. First Heartland Consultants Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. JB Capital LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 54,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,991,000 after buying an additional 2,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $357,000. Institutional investors 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.