Zacks Research Expects Higher Earnings for East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research upped their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for East West Bancorp in a report issued on Tuesday, November 12th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the financial services provider will earn $8.22 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.11. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $8.34 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s Q3 2025 earnings at $2.17 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.25 EPS.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on EWBC. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.25.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $103.57 on Thursday. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $60.26 and a 1 year high of $107.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $88.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $338,142,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,460,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 152.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,404,000 after buying an additional 225,799 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.6% during the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 649,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,578,000 after buying an additional 152,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.9% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 520,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,079,000 after acquiring an additional 148,530 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $167,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,382,509.50. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,625,276 over the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.