Zacks Research Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for East West Bancorp in a research note issued on Thursday, October 10th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $1.99 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.96. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $8.20 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.99 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $8.11 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.22 EPS.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The firm had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.61 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on EWBC. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.77.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $88.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.48. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $50.23 and a 1-year high of $89.75. The company has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total value of $472,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $167,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,382,509.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 6.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Tobam raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 131.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 109.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 1,992 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.