Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• Cathay General Bancorp reported quarterly EPS of $1.43, missing the $1.45 analyst consensus, while revenue of $230.55 million exceeded expectations of $227.45 million. Net margin was 24.66% and return on equity was 11.71%.
• Shares fell 0.1% to $60.63 following the results. The bank announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, equivalent to a $1.52 annualized payout and a 2.5% yield.
• Wall Street’s consensus rating remains Hold, with one Buy, five Hold, and one Sell rating and an average price target of $62.25; insiders sold 31,600 shares worth approximately $2.0 million during the quarter.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.45 by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company had revenue of $230.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $227.45 million.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 0.1%

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CATY. Stephens upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $1,266,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at $463,112.65. The trade was a 73.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $99,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $147,554.14. This trade represents a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,996,362 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.53% of the company's stock.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.

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