Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The company had revenue of $210.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.71 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CATY opened at $47.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.94. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.06 and a 1-year high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 3,030 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after buying an additional 6,740 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 183,090 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.