East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) to Issue $0.60 Quarterly Dividend

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 22nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.60 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th.

East West Bancorp has a payout ratio of 25.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect East West Bancorp to earn $9.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.1%.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of EWBC stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $103.61. 948,042 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 946,676. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $98.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The business had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total value of $3,857,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 928,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

An institutional investor recently raised its position in East West Bancorp stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 66.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 801 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $72,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.15.

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.