Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $36.62, but opened at $35.15. Cathay General Bancorp shares last traded at $34.23, with a volume of 86,655 shares changing hands.

The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.04). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 27.02% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The company had revenue of $339.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total value of $304,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 204,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,885,525. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,254,816 shares of the bank's stock worth $367,917,000 after purchasing an additional 196,146 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,850,356 shares of the bank's stock worth $171,613,000 after purchasing an additional 150,331 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,053,405 shares of the bank's stock worth $91,520,000 after purchasing an additional 25,421 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,654,350 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,505,000 after purchasing an additional 75,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 8.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,540,402 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,543,000 after purchasing an additional 124,851 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 4.7 %

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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $37.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.84. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 1.12.

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.