Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Raises Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned 0.09% of East West Bancorp worth $9,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 the SEC website. In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of East West Bancorp 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 transaction, the insider now owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,234,045.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.31.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $0.21 on Friday, reaching $75.98. 14,190 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,037,813. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.32. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.59 and a 52-week high of $79.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.54 and a 200-day moving average of $73.57.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.71%.

East West Bancorp Profile

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.