Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 27.02% and a return on equity of 13.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.32 EPS.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY traded up $0.62 during trading on Monday, hitting $36.62. The stock had a trading volume of 336,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 353,364. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $27.24 and a 12-month high of $45.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.83.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is 27.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CATY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.20.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Anthony M. Tang sold 7,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 204,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,885,525. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company 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.