Research Analysts Set Expectations for Cathay General Bancorp’s Q1 2025 Earnings (NASDAQ:CATY)

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) – Analysts at Wedbush decreased their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Cathay General Bancorp in a research note issued on Tuesday, September 24th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now expects that the bank will post earnings per share of $0.98 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.01. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective 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 Q2 2025 earnings at $1.04 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.07 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.06 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.15 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.30 EPS.

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

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $42.35 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $32.08 and a 1-year high of $45.88. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.11.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 30.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 355,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,053,837.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 355,252 shares in the company, valued at $16,053,837.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kim R. Bingham sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.89, for a total transaction of $269,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,841.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,728,581. 4.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CATY. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,563,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,262,970 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,639,000 after acquiring an additional 208,599 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.4% in the fourth 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,194,232 shares of the bank’s stock worth $158,206,000 after buying an additional 176,215 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 861,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,391,000 after acquiring an additional 133,852 shares during the period. 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.