Zacks Research Issues Optimistic Outlook for EWBC Earnings

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research increased their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for East West Bancorp in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, March 4th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the financial services provider will earn $2.14 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.13. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $8.85 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s Q3 2025 earnings at $2.22 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.24 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.40 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.97 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on EWBC. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.1 %

EWBC stock opened at $89.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $97.83 and its 200 day moving average is $94.54. The stock has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.4% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 7,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.81%.

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.