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

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02, Zacks reports. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 20.57%.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 573,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,615. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 1.13. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $33.88 and a fifty-two week high of $55.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.58.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 295,252 shares in the company, valued at $15,609,973.24. This represents a 11.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at $157,873. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,189 shares of company stock worth $2,500,047. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.