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

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

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $77.20 on Thursday. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $41.12 and a 1-year high of $79.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $74.69 and its 200 day moving average is $68.34. The company has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. Compass Point increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stephens increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.38.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.