East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) short interest rose 5.2% in September

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC – Get Free Report ) received a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,880,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the August 31st total of 4,640,000 shares. About 3.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume of 730,800 shares, the short interest rate is currently 6.7 days.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded up $2.70 on Tuesday, reaching $80.04. 533,800 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 938,156. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92, and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.51 and its 200-day moving average is $77.11. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $49.59 and a one year high of $89.75.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC – Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The firm had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.61 million. In the same quarter last year, the business posted EPS of $2.20. The company’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

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

Institutional investors weigh in on East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 6.4% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 2.0% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of shares are currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts set new price targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EWBC. Barclays boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stephens upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday , July 3. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.87, according to MarketBeat.

Read our latest report on EWBC

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank, which provides a wide 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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