DA Davidson Has Pessimistic Outlook of EWBC FY2025 Earnings

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Analysts at DA Davidson decreased their FY2025 EPS estimates for East West Bancorp in a research note issued on Wednesday, April 2nd. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $8.60 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $8.62. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $118.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $8.85 per share.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Stephens lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $74.04 on Friday. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $68.78 and a one year high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $93.50 and a 200-day moving average of $95.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732 in the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.