Analysts Conflicted on These Financial Names: Allstate (ALL), East West Bancorp (EWBC) and StepStone Group (STEP)

TD Cowen kept its Buy rating on East West Bancorp with a $150 price target, suggesting a 19.2% upside. The bank's revenue growth is driven by commercial banking, wealth management, and small business banking. Its unique position as a U.S.-Asia bridge fosters customer loyalty and competitive advantage, according to the analyst.

Allstate reported $748 million in pre-tax catastrophe losses for August 2026, bringing the total to $3.15 billion for the year. The losses were driven by severe weather, with 50% from a single wind and hail event. Allstate has $150 million in catastrophe bonds and $1 billion in reinsurance, but not all losses will qualify to erode these protections.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) reported strong Q2 2026 earnings, beating expectations with $18.6B revenue and $3.27B net income. However, scrutiny over its claims practices, including a denied water-damage claim, raises reputational and regulatory risks. Analysts project $76.5B revenue and $3.9B earnings by 2029, but some caution about long-term profitability.

Allstate Insurance has requested approval from California regulators to resume writing new homeowners policies, ending a freeze since 2022. The request is tied to a 1.4% average rate increase, with two-thirds of policyholders seeing premiums decrease. If approved, Allstate must write at least 2,064 new policies by 2029. The move follows regulatory changes allowing insurers to factor in reinsurance costs and catastrophe modeling. Allstate's market share in California has slightly decreased since

East West Bank has partnered with Lendistry to provide a $100 million credit facility for airport concession lending, with an accordion option to double. Lendistry, a nonbank lender, has originated $98 million in loans to concessionaires in 16 states, seeing growth potential in the sector.

Victory Capital agreed to acquire First Eagle Investments for $7.0B, including $575M in notes. Steadfast signed a deal for A$7.7B with Amwins, Dragoneer, and KKR. StepStone raised $1.7B for infrastructure secondaries. Azalea and JANA also announced fund closings. Ethena and FalconX opened a $1B warehouse for USDe-backed loans. Spot bitcoin ETFs saw $242.3M inflows on August 27.