Wedbush Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $90.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s Q2 2024 earnings at $1.96 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.00 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $8.05 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.00 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.05 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.18 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $8.40 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on EWBC. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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. Truist Financial boosted their target price 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, Barclays began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $106.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $75.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.93. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $41.12 and a one year high of $79.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.84 and its 200 day moving average is $68.57.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. East West Bancorp’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders 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 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $803,502,000 after acquiring an additional 215,281 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,582,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $833,469,000 after acquiring an additional 159,963 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,416,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $443,635,000 after acquiring an additional 306,473 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,370,000 after acquiring an additional 751,944 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,713,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,279,000 after buying an additional 886,841 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.