Published on 27 Apr 2024 on Simply Wall St. via Yahoo Finance

Here's What We Like About East West Bancorp's (NASDAQ:EWBC) Upcoming Dividend

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Accordingly, East West Bancorp investors that purchase the stock on or after the 2nd of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 17th of May.

The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.55 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$2.20 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, East West Bancorp has a trailing yield of 2.9% on the current stock price of US$75.98. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.