East West Bancorp (EWBC) Projected to Post Earnings on Thursday

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) is expected to be releasing its earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, January 23rd. Analysts expect East West Bancorp to post earnings of $2.12 per share and revenue of $659,000.52 billion for the quarter.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect East West Bancorp to post $8 EPS for the current fiscal year and $9 EPS for the next fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $100.53 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $101.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.72. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $67.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The stock has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 in the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Compass Point boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.77.

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.