DA Davidson Reduces Earnings Estimates for East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for East West Bancorp in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 2nd. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $1.98 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.01. DA Davidson currently has a “Buy” rating and a $118.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $8.85 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s FY2026 earnings at $9.51 EPS.

Several other research firms have also commented on EWBC. UBS Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 5.0 %

EWBC stock opened at $74.04 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.48. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $68.78 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The firm has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,174,000 after purchasing an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $228,269,000 after purchasing an additional 447,057 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,052,000 after purchasing an additional 437,676 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $32,138,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

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

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

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.