East West Bancorp price target raised to $88 from $83 at UBS

UBS analyst Erika Najarian raised the firm’s price target on East West Bancorp to $88 from $83 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares as part of a Q1 earnings preview for the bank and consumer finance group. Bank stocks have had a nice run coming out of Q1 conference season as investors “breathed a sigh of relief” over a lack of major net interest income outlook revisions from regional banks, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, UBS believes banks are not yet “out of the woods” in terms of downward revisions, which makes it think a “breather in the stocks is ahead — especially if the market continues to price in dwindling rate cut odds.”