East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,880,000 shares, a growth of 5.2% from the August 31st total of 4,640,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 730,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.7 days. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EWBC shares. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.87.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $80.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.11. The firm has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $49.59 and a 1-year high of $89.75.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.17 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,343.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $302,668.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,875 shares in the company, valued at $1,392,713.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total value of $472,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $39,347,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $3,961,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $3,832,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 197.8% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,535 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $909,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company 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.