Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.38 on March 9th

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be given a dividend of 0.38 per share by the bank on Monday, March 9th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. This is a 11.8% increase from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Cathay General Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. Cathay General Bancorp has a payout ratio of 30.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Cathay General Bancorp to earn $4.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.0%.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY traded down $0.44 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.83. 48,309 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 381,167. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $36.06 and a 12-month high of $54.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.87.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $222.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.76 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 22.76%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CATY shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides a full suite of financial services to commercial, institutional and retail clients. As a community-focused institution, the company emphasizes relationship banking and tailored solutions for businesses and individuals.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.