East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Announces $0.55 Quarterly Dividend

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 22nd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of 0.55 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th.

East West Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 20.4% per year over the last three years. East West Bancorp has a payout ratio of 26.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect East West Bancorp to earn $8.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.9%.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 5.8 %

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $95.63 on Thursday. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $51.40 and a 52 week high of $98.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $83.31 and its 200-day moving average is $78.36. The firm has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total value of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,470 shares in the company, valued at $1,621,111.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $302,668.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,875 shares in the company, valued at $1,392,713.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $166,411.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,621,111.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160 in the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.