East West Bancorp, Inc. (EWBC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.80 on February 17th

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.80 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This is a 33.3% increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60.

East West Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 8 years. East West Bancorp has a payout ratio of 25.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect East West Bancorp to earn $9.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.1%.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $111.35 on Friday. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $119.73. The company has a market capitalization of $15.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $111.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $754.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.04% and a net margin of 28.36%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $1,017,325.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,950 shares in the company, valued at $1,719,698.50. This represents a 37.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $159,189.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $791,339.88. This represents a 16.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 73,344 shares of company stock worth $8,184,226 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $274,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $1,976,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $491,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 8.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

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.