UBS cheers East West Bancorp's 'enviable' position with upgrade

East West Bancorp

30/10/2023 14:45

** Brokerage UBS upgrades East West Bancorp  EWBC.O  to
"buy" from "neutral", raises PT to $61 from $57
    ** Planned restart of stock buyback and strong capital
position make shares "attractive in the current environment"
    ** Co can repurchase over 3% of its stock in the next few
quarters and still grow tangible book value per share (TBVPS) -
a key valuation metric - more than peers, which UBS says is "an
enviable position" to be in
    ** Brokerage also says EWBC has enough firepower to protect
balance sheet against potential losses on commercial real estate
(CRE) loans, which have emerged as a pain point for lenders in
recent quarters
    ** EWBC shares gain 1.5% to $53.42
    ** Last week, EWBC reported Q3 profit in line with LSEG
estimates

 (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru)
 ((Niket.Nishant@thomsonreuters.com;))