Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $36.62, but opened at $35.15. Cathay General Bancorp shares last traded at $34.23, with a volume of 86,655 shares.

The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $339.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.85 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.89% and a net margin of 27.02%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CATY shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 6th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.40.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Anthony M. Tang sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total transaction of $304,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 204,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,885,525. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $34,563,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 10.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,058,670 shares of the bank’s stock worth $280,119,000 after acquiring an additional 749,370 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,138,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 280.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 334,678 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,633,000 after acquiring an additional 246,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,013,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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.