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

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $90.00 price objective 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.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Compass Point raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Truist Financial raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an overweight rating and a $106.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $75.98 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $41.12 and a fifty-two week high of $79.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.68. The stock has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The business had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp 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 in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $115,369,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $67,692,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 48.5% in 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 increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 751,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $33,675,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.