Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Declares $0.34 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Cathay General Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, with the payment scheduled for September 8th to investors on record by August 28th, resulting in a dividend yield of 2.9%.
• The company has a payout ratio of 27.6%, indicating that the dividend is well-supported by its earnings, with an expected future payout ratio of 28.6% based on projected earnings.
• Cathay General Bancorp's stock buyback program allows for the repurchase of up to $150 million worth of shares, reflecting management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 15th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of 0.34 per share by the bank on Monday, September 8th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%.

Cathay General Bancorp has a payout ratio of 27.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Cathay General Bancorp to earn $4.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.6%.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CATY traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.30. 395,771 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 443,425. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $36.06 and a twelve month high of $55.29. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.36.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 21.44%. The company had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Cathay General Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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