Analysts Set Expectations for East West Bancorp, Inc.’s Q2 2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:EWBC)

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – DA Davidson issued their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of East West Bancorp in a research note issued on Thursday, April 25th. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $1.98 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $7.99 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s FY2024 earnings at $8.09 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $8.22 EPS.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $75.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.68. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $41.12 and a twelve month high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $115,369,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $67,692,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in 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 worth $195,279,000 after purchasing an additional 886,841 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 30.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 751,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,675,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.