Sterne Agee Reiterates Buy Rating on East West Bancorp. (EWBC)

Sterne Agee is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Buy rating on East West Bancorp Inc.

; it has a $21.00 price target on the stock. The SA analysts said that they continue to recommend the shares, anticipating the positive catalysts of upside to consensus earnings expectations and improvement in credit quality trends over the next year. The analysts are also hopeful for slightly less noise from accounting the UCB deal over the next few quarters, and believe that expense guidance for 3Q10 ($105 million) could prove high. East West Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company. The principal business of the company is to serve as a holding company for the East West Bank and other banking or banking-related subsidiaries. The company has five principal operating segments: retail banking, commercial lending, treasury, residential lending and other. The Bank provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals and other individuals.