East West Bancorp (EWBC) Competitors

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) and Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings and profitability.

Which has better earnings & valuation, EWBC or FITB?

Fifth Third Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than East West Bancorp. East West Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fifth Third Bancorp, 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
East West Bancorp	$4.53B	3.09	$1.17B	$8.56	11.85
Fifth Third Bancorp	$13.28B	2.15	$2.31B	$3.22	13.39

Is EWBC or FITB a better dividend stock?

East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Fifth Third Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. East West Bancorp pays out 28.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fifth Third Bancorp pays out 46.0% 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 increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Fifth Third Bancorp has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Fifth Third Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer EWBC or FITB?

In the previous week, Fifth Third Bancorp had 1 more articles in the media than East West Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Fifth Third Bancorp and 18 mentions for East West Bancorp. Fifth Third Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.55 beat East West Bancorp's score of 1.34 indicating that Fifth Third Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
East West Bancorp	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Fifth Third Bancorp	16 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, EWBC or FITB?

East West Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fifth Third Bancorp has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is EWBC or FITB more profitable?

East West Bancorp has a net margin of 26.06% compared to Fifth Third Bancorp's net margin of 17.97%. East West Bancorp's return on equity of 15.09% beat Fifth Third Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
East West Bancorp	26.06%	15.09%	1.56%
Fifth Third Bancorp	17.97%	13.31%	1.15%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in EWBC or FITB?

89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.8% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer EWBC or FITB?

East West Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $114.15, suggesting a potential upside of 12.56%. Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus price target of $47.80, suggesting a potential upside of 10.90%. Given East West Bancorp's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe East West Bancorp is more favorable than Fifth Third Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
East West Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62
Fifth Third Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82

Summary

East West Bancorp and Fifth Third Bancorp tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.