East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Announces Earnings Results

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 25.40%. The company had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $631.61 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. East West Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $2.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $87.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,263,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,047,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.32. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $49.59 and a twelve month high of $88.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.12.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on EWBC. Wedbush raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.60.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.