East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.04, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $822.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $811.07 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of EWBC traded up $2.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $128.27. The company had a trading volume of 1,088,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 953,586. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $97.55 and a 1-year high of $137.47. The stock has a market cap of $17.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.98.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $105,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% 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, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total transaction of $1,323,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on EWBC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.62.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. The bank serves businesses, professionals, consumers and institutions through a range of deposit, lending and financial services.

Its products and services include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential and consumer lending, checking and savings accounts, treasury management, international banking, wealth management and foreign-exchange services.