Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.38

Key Points

• Cathay General Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, payable September 8 to shareholders of record on August 28. The dividend implies an annualized payout of $1.52 and a 2.5% yield.
• The dividend appears well covered, with a current payout ratio of 30.8% and an expected future payout ratio of 26.1% based on analysts’ projected earnings.
• Cathay reported quarterly EPS of $1.37, exceeding estimates of $1.35, while revenue rose 13.1% year over year to $221.2 million. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company, although insiders have sold shares recently.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a dividend of 0.38 per share by the bank on Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th.

Cathay General Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Cathay General Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 30.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Cathay General Bancorp to earn $5.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.1%.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $61.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.72. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.57 and a fifty-two week high of $65.25. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Director Richard Sun sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $189,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,652. The trade was a 51.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,000 shares of company stock worth $1,772,020. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $604,644,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 6,522.1% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,520,125 shares of the bank's stock worth $280,203,000 after buying an additional 4,451,867 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,007 shares of the bank's stock worth $201,930,000 after buying an additional 17,444 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,685,203 shares of the bank's stock worth $81,547,000 after buying an additional 105,484 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,140,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides a full suite of financial services to commercial, institutional and retail clients. As a community-focused institution, the company emphasizes relationship banking and tailored solutions for businesses and individuals.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.

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