Wedbush Predicts Reduced Earnings for Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) – Analysts at Wedbush reduced their FY2024 EPS estimates for Cathay General Bancorp in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now anticipates that the bank will post earnings of $4.04 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $4.08. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Cathay General Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $4.02 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Cathay General Bancorp’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.92 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.94 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.95 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.94 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.75 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.95 EPS.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 22.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CATY. StockNews.com raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $44.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $46.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.82.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total value of $555,440.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 149,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,699,061.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,254,816 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $367,917,000 after buying an additional 196,146 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $946,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 504.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,568 shares of the bank’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 20,502 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $982,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 181,928 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.