In this article, we discuss 5 high growth financial stocks to buy. If you want to see more stocks in this selection, check out 12 High Growth Financial Stocks To Buy.
5. East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33
Quarterly Revenue Growth YoY as of December 30, 2022: 40.5%
East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) is a California-based bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals. It operates through three segments – Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other. On January 26, East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) declared a $0.48 per share quarterly dividend, a 20% increase from its prior dividend of $0.40. The dividend was distributed to shareholders on February 21.
On January 27, Truist analyst Jennifer Demba raised the firm’s price target on East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) to $85 from $77 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares after its Q4 earnings beat. The analyst noted that the company’s higher net interest income was partially offset by lower fee income, higher expenses, and higher provisioning. Additionally, the firm expressed its encouragement with East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)’s continued positive credit quality trends and finds the stock’s valuation of 7.9-times expected forward earnings to be “attractive”.
According to Insider Monkey’s Q3 data, 33 hedge funds were bullish on East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC), compared to 35 funds in the prior quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is the biggest position holder in the company, with 1.05 million shares worth $70.75 million.
Here is what Aristotle Capital Management Value Equity has to say about East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:
“We purchased East West Bancorp in the third quarter of 2017; however, our history with the business stretches back further having twice previously invested. Companies we consider to be high-quality like East West tend to remain high quality, and we have long admired the business for its uniqueness among the otherwise homogeneous U.S. banking industry. Its dominant market share built over generations in Asian communities – and difficult-to-replicate experience due to culture, geography and business practices – create distinct competitive advantages in our view. During our most recent holding period, the bank achieved sustained loan growth, a catalyst we identified, through its continued leadership position as the financial “bridge” for customers doing business in the U.S. and China. Moreover, East West also realized market share gains in its headquarters state of California. With these catalysts nearing completion, we decided to exit our investment to fund the purchase of Oshkosh. As always, we will continue to study East West and, in the future, may once again find an opportunity to be investors.”
