East West Bancorp, Inc. (EWBC) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.80 on August 17th

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.80 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, August 17th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd.

East West Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 0.2%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 8 consecutive years. East West Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 33.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect East West Bancorp to earn $11.18 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 28.6%.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $131.60 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.34. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $92.67 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $18.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $791.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.26% and a net margin of 30.45%.The company’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 10.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares in the company, valued at $87,422,275.70. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total transaction of $1,446,219.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,093,742. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,311 shares of company stock worth $6,784,711 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,530,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $1,044,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,523,000 after purchasing an additional 27,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 141.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 128,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,427,000 after purchasing an additional 75,147 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.