East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Short Interest Update

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,310,000 shares, a drop of 16.2% from the January 31st total of 3,950,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 881,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $89.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.54. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $68.78 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

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.