Wedbush Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) - Wedbush reduced their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of East West Bancorp in a research note issued on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $1.96 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.97. Wedbush has a "Outperform" rating and a $86.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp's current full-year earnings is $7.90 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for East West Bancorp's Q1 2025 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.01 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.14 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.15 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on EWBC. Barclays initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $106.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Stephens began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, December 8th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $79.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.36.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.2 %

East West Bancorp stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $79.11. The stock had a trading volume of 625,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,310,597. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.38. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $41.12 and a 52 week high of $79.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $654.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.91 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.11% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 26.89%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $803,502,000 after buying an additional 215,281 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 1.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,149,984 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $729,824,000 after acquiring an additional 128,474 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,582,254 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $833,469,000 after acquiring an additional 159,963 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,416,534 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $443,635,000 after purchasing an additional 306,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,793,739 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $321,553,000 after purchasing an additional 756,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.