East West Bancorp, Inc. (EWBC) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.55 on May 17th

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.55 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%.

East West Bancorp has raised its dividend by an average of 20.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 4 years. East West Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 26.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect East West Bancorp to earn $8.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.8%.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $77.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.34. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $41.12 and a 12 month high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 26.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 price target for the company. Compass Point lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock 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 given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.