Cathay General Bancorp to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.34 (NASDAQ:CATY)

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 15th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a dividend of 0.34 per share by the bank on Monday, June 9th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%.

Cathay General Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 2.3% annually over the last three years. Cathay General Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 27.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Cathay General Bancorp to earn $4.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.6%.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY stock opened at $44.43 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.07. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $34.75 and a one year high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. The company had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 25.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 3,030 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% 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.