Q3 2024 EPS Estimates for Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Cut by Wedbush

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) – Investment analysts at Wedbush dropped their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, September 24th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now anticipates that the bank will post earnings per share of $0.97 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.99. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Cathay General Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $4.03 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Cathay General Bancorp’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.07 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $4.08 EPS.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $178.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.19 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 22.08%. Cathay General Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. 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 lifted their target price on 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 increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $42.57 on Thursday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $32.08 and a 52-week high of $45.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,254,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $367,917,000 after buying an additional 196,146 shares during the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $2,014,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $946,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 504.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,568 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 20,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $982,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $903,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 355,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,053,837.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of the firm’s 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 $6,699,061.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $903,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 355,252 shares in the company, valued at $16,053,837.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,728,581. 4.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 30.09%.

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.