DA Davidson Lifts Earnings Estimates for East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson lifted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of East West Bancorp in a report issued on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $8.60 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.55. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $8.39 per share.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share.

Several other research firms have also commented on EWBC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.77.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

EWBC opened at $94.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $13.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $67.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $101.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 6.2% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,552,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,414,000 after buying an additional 90,618 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 21.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,000 after acquiring an additional 7,645 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,513,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at $11,543,510.50. This represents a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 over the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

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.