Q1 2025 Earnings Estimate for Cathay General Bancorp Issued By Wedbush (NASDAQ:CATY)

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) – Investment analysts at Wedbush reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Cathay General Bancorp in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, September 24th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now forecasts that the bank will earn $0.98 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.01. 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 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 data 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 net margin of 22.08% and a return on equity of 11.96%. The company had revenue of $178.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price 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. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 1.9 %

CATY opened at $42.60 on Wednesday. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.08 and a fifty-two week high of $45.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.64 and its 200 day moving average is $38.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $34,563,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,262,970 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,639,000 after purchasing an additional 208,599 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 196,146 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,194,232 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $158,206,000 after acquiring an additional 176,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $555,440.79. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 149,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,699,061.14. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total value of $555,440.79. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 149,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,699,061.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 355,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,053,837.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,728,581 over the last ninety days. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.