Zacks Research Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for EWBC

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Research analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for East West Bancorp in a research report issued on Tuesday, March 4th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $2.04 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.03. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $8.85 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s FY2025 earnings at $8.64 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.35 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.36 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on EWBC. UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $89.41 on Thursday. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $68.78 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.54. The company has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.