Short Interest in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Decreases By 10.6%

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,470,000 shares, a decline of 10.6% from the October 15th total of 5,000,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 736,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Compass Point raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.25.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total value of $147,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,625,276 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.4% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.5% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 33,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 49.5% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 105,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 20.1% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 13,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ EWBC traded down $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $103.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 974,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,035,753. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.49. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $60.34 and a 1-year high of $107.68.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.78%.

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.