East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares to Pay Quarterly Dividend of $0.80

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd.

East West Bancorp has raised its dividend by an average of 0.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 8 years. East West Bancorp has a payout ratio of 33.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect East West Bancorp to earn $11.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.0%.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 2.5%

NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $3.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $131.49. The stock had a trading volume of 649,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 955,071. The business’s 50 day moving average is $128.31 and its 200-day moving average is $126.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.98. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $98.08 and a one year high of $137.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 10.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total value of $1,323,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,248.38. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $105,624.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,810 shares of company stock valued at $1,564,344. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $35,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. The bank serves businesses, professionals, consumers and institutions through a range of deposit, lending and financial services.

Its products and services include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential and consumer lending, checking and savings accounts, treasury management, international banking, wealth management and foreign-exchange services.