East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 29.11%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.68. The stock had a trading volume of 846,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,215. The firm has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.41, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.39. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $41.12 and a 52 week high of $79.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.28.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related 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 value of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Stephens upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Compass Point increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.38.

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.