Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $230.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.45 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CATY traded down $0.04 on Wednesday, hitting $60.63. The stock had a trading volume of 406,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 461,407. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $44.57 and a one year high of $65.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $61.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.68.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 29.69%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $99,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,554.14. The trade was a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total value of $62,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $137,082. This trade represents a 31.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $1,996,362 in the last 90 days. 4.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CATY shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Benchmark upgraded Cathay General Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions, with a particular focus on serving the Chinese American and broader communities in the markets where it operates.

Cathay Bank offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial lending, small-business financing, consumer loans, treasury management and other traditional banking services.