East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) versus TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) Head-To-Head Comparison

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) and TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Dividends

East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. TriCo Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. East West Bancorp pays out 26.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TriCo Bancshares pays out 40.4% 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. East West Bancorp has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years and TriCo Bancshares has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. TriCo Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares East West Bancorp and TriCo Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
East West Bancorp	27.16%	15.55%	1.63%
TriCo Bancshares	21.87%	9.27%	1.19%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.1% of TriCo Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of TriCo Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares East West Bancorp and TriCo Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
East West Bancorp	$4.53 billion	3.50	$1.17 billion	$9.07	12.69
TriCo Bancshares	$531.04 million	2.89	$114.87 million	$3.56	13.24

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

Volatility and Risk

East West Bancorp has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TriCo Bancshares has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for East West Bancorp and TriCo Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
East West Bancorp	1	4	11	0	2.63
TriCo Bancshares	0	4	3	0	2.43

East West Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $125.08, indicating a potential upside of 8.71%. TriCo Bancshares has a consensus target price of $48.60, indicating a potential upside of 3.08%. Given East West Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe East West Bancorp is more favorable than TriCo Bancshares.

Summary

East West Bancorp beats TriCo Bancshares on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About East West Bancorp

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. It accepts various deposit products, such as personal and business checking and savings accounts, money market, and time deposits. The company’s loan products include mortgage and home equity, commercial and residential real estate, working capital lines of credit, construction finance, trade finance, letters of credit, commercial business, affordable housing loans, asset-based lending, asset-backed finance, project finance, loan syndication, and equipment financing, as well as financing services for clients to facilitate their business transactions between the United States and Asia. It also provides various wealth management, treasury management, foreign exchange, and interest rate and commodity risk hedging services; and mobile and online banking services. The company was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.

About TriCo Bancshares

TriCo Bancshares operates as a bank holding company for Tri Counties Bank that provides commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides small business loans; real estate mortgage loans, such as residential and commercial loans; consumer loans; mortgage, auto, other vehicle, and personal loans; commercial loans, including agricultural loans; and real estate construction loans. In addition, the company offers treasury management services; credit and debit cards; and other customary banking services, including safe deposit boxes; and independent financial and broker-dealer services. Further, it provides checking, saving, and money market accounts, as well as individual retirement accounts; equipment financing; certificate of deposit account registry service; certificated of deposit; and IntraFi cash service. TriCo Bancshares was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Chico, California.