Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Announces Earnings Results

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.04), Yahoo Finance reports. The company had revenue of $339.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.85 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 24.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 EPS.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

CATY stock opened at $34.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 1.12. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $27.24 and a 12-month high of $45.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.84.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CATY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.40.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Anthony M. Tang sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total transaction of $304,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 204,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,885,525. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.