East West Bancorp, Inc. Expected to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $1.96 Per Share (NASDAQ:EWBC)

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Research analysts at Wedbush boosted their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of East West Bancorp in a report released on Wednesday, April 24th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $1.96 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.95. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $7.87 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s Q3 2024 earnings at $2.02 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $8.05 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.05 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.17 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $8.40 EPS.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 EPS.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stephens boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.1 %

EWBC stock opened at $76.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.62, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.40. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $41.12 and a one year high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 65.1% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 52.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.