East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) to Post Q4 2024 Earnings of $1.96 Per Share, Wedbush Forecasts

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Analysts at Wedbush dropped their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for shares of East West Bancorp in a report released on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $1.96 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.97. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $86.00 target price 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.

EWBC has been the subject of several other research reports. Stephens began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, December 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $79.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $62.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.36.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $79.25 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.25. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $41.12 and a 12 month high of $79.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.38.

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

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 31,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 48,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,560,000 after buying an additional 23,361 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $803,502,000 after buying an additional 215,281 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 12.2% during the third quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 279,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,715,000 after buying an additional 30,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in East West Bancorp by 8.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 676,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,664,000 after acquiring an additional 50,799 shares in the last quarter. 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.