East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.04 EPS

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.12 by ($0.04), Zacks reports. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Thursday, hitting $103.50. 1,756,014 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 875,504. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $67.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total transaction of $985,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.