Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) is expected to be posting its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, January 22nd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.10 per share and revenue of $184,865.20 billion for the quarter. Parties interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 20.57%. The business had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Cathay General Bancorp to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $4 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of CATY opened at $48.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $33.88 and a 52-week high of $55.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.73 and its 200-day moving average is $45.41.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CATY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush raised their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 295,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,609,973.24. This trade represents a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 48,189 shares of company stock worth $2,500,047 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

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.