East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,800,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 4,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 890,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 490.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on EWBC. Barclays increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.77.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $95.76. 609,929 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 928,252. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.02. The firm has a market cap of $13.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $67.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

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.