Wedbush Forecasts Increased Earnings for East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Equities researchers at Wedbush increased their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for East West Bancorp in a report issued on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $2.09 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.02. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $8.21 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s FY2026 earnings at $8.85 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on EWBC. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.46.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC opened at $95.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.63. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $52.29 and a 52-week high of $98.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 24.96%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $167,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,382,509.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,343.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $167,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,382,509.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $262,000. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in East West Bancorp by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 34,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,739,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $414,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors 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.