East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target Increased to $86.00 by Analysts at Stephens

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Stephens from $85.00 to $86.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential upside of 11.75% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on EWBC. Truist Financial increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock traded up $1.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $76.96. 909,582 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,210,183. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $41.12 and a 12-month high of $79.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.28.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 29.11%. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 65.1% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth $35,000. 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.