East West Bancorp, Inc. (EWBC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.55 on November 15th

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 22nd, Zacks reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a 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 dividend payout ratio of 26.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Trading Up 5.8 %

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $95.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.36. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $51.40 and a twelve month high of $98.95.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.77.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $302,668.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,392,713.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,346 shares of company stock worth $1,108,160 over the last quarter. 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.