Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02, Zacks reports. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 11.30%.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:CATY traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $48.78. 573,677 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 324,615. The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.58. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $33.88 and a 52-week high of $55.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total transaction of $2,114,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 295,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,609,973.24. This trade represents a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,873. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,189 shares of company stock worth $2,500,047. 4.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.