East West Bancorp (EWBC) Competitors

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) and East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and risk.

Is MTB or EWBC a better dividend stock?

M&T Bank pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. M&T Bank pays out 36.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. East West Bancorp pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. East West Bancorp has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Do analysts prefer MTB or EWBC?

M&T Bank presently has a consensus price target of $211.48, suggesting a potential upside of 4.39%. East West Bancorp has a consensus price target of $108.38, suggesting a potential downside of 0.45%. Given M&T Bank's higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe M&T Bank is more favorable than East West Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
M&T Bank	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
East West Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62

Is MTB or EWBC more profitable?

East West Bancorp has a net margin of 25.73% compared to M&T Bank's net margin of 19.86%. East West Bancorp's return on equity of 15.23% beat M&T Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
M&T Bank	19.86%	10.18%	1.28%
East West Bancorp	25.73%	15.23%	1.55%

Does the media favor MTB or EWBC?

In the previous week, M&T Bank had 1 more articles in the media than East West Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for M&T Bank and 21 mentions for East West Bancorp. East West Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat M&T Bank's score of 1.09 indicating that East West Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
M&T Bank	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
East West Bancorp	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, MTB or EWBC?

M&T Bank has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, East West Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, MTB or EWBC?

M&T Bank has higher revenue and earnings than East West Bancorp. East West Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than M&T Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
M&T Bank	$13.45B	2.42	$2.59B	$14.93	13.57
East West Bancorp	$4.53B	3.31	$1.17B	$8.38	12.99

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in MTB or EWBC?

84.7% of M&T Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of M&T Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

East West Bancorp beats M&T Bank on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.