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

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

East West Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 20.4% annually 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 Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $95.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $51.40 and a 12 month high of $98.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.08.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, 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 value of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at this link. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 18,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,621,111.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $167,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,509.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by 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.