East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $77.20 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.69 and a 200-day moving average of $68.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $41.12 and a 12-month high of $79.54. The company has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,400.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.38.

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.