East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Short Interest Down 8.7% in August

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,310,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the July 31st total of 4,720,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 743,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on EWBC. DA Davidson upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned 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 target price of $89.53.

Get Our Latest Analysis on East West Bancorp

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total value of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,621,111.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $302,668.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,392,713.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total value of $166,411.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,621,111.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,346 shares of company stock worth $1,108,160 over the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,370,000 after purchasing an additional 751,944 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $39,347,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $3,961,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $3,832,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 17,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,224,000 after buying an additional 11,208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $84.07. 418,600 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 973,579. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.05. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $49.59 and a one year high of $89.75. The company has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.32.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.40% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $631.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The business's revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.71%.

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.

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