East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.80

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.80 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, May 18th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th.

East West Bancorp has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 8 consecutive years. East West Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 33.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect East West Bancorp to earn $10.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.2%.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $1.19 on Wednesday, reaching $122.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,809,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,139,437. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $83.11 and a 52-week high of $124.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $111.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.The firm had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 10.25 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $121.00 price target on East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.79.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.