East West Bancorp (EWBC) Competitors

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) and M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and community ranking.

Is EWBC or MTB more profitable?

East West Bancorp has a net margin of 25.73% compared to M&T Bank's net margin of 19.24%. East West Bancorp's return on equity of 15.71% beat M&T Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
East West Bancorp	25.73%	15.71%	1.58%
M&T Bank	19.24%	10.12%	1.25%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in EWBC or MTB?

East West Bancorp received 312 more outperform votes than M&T Bank when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.64% of users gave East West Bancorp an outperform vote while only 45.80% of users gave M&T Bank an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
East West Bancorp	Outperform Votes 563 64.64%	Underperform Votes 308 35.36%
M&T Bank	Outperform Votes 251 45.80%	Underperform Votes 297 54.20%

Which has more risk and volatility, EWBC or MTB?

East West Bancorp has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, M&T Bank has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is EWBC or MTB a better dividend stock?

East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. M&T Bank pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. East West Bancorp pays out 28.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. M&T Bank pays out 36.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in EWBC or MTB?

89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.7% of M&T Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of M&T Bank shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, EWBC or MTB?

M&T Bank has higher revenue and earnings than East West Bancorp. East West Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than M&T Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
East West Bancorp	$2.57B	4.01	$1.17B	$8.33	8.93
M&T Bank	$9.23B	2.82	$2.59B	$14.63	10.82

Do analysts recommend EWBC or MTB?

East West Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $106.46, indicating a potential upside of 43.09%. M&T Bank has a consensus price target of $215.97, indicating a potential upside of 36.38%. Given East West Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe East West Bancorp is more favorable than M&T Bank.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
East West Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.69
M&T Bank	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.41

Does the media prefer EWBC or MTB?

In the previous week, M&T Bank had 3 more articles in the media than East West Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for M&T Bank and 36 mentions for East West Bancorp. M&T Bank's average media sentiment score of 0.79 beat East West Bancorp's score of 0.50 indicating that M&T Bank is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
East West Bancorp	15 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
M&T Bank	20 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

East West Bancorp beats M&T Bank on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.