Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Board Announces Share Buyback Plan

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $55.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.82. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $40.96 and a 1 year high of $55.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.27 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.45%. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.25.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $243,492.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,435,686.65. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $50,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,460. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 4.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

More Cathay General Bancorp News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cathay General Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat consensus — EPS $1.29 vs. $1.19 expected and revenue $213.2M (+14.4% YoY); margins and ROE remained healthy, supporting the upbeat investor reaction. Cathay General (CATY) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target from $55 to $58 (maintaining a “market perform” rating), signaling modest analyst confidence and incremental upside in the shares. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call transcript and management commentary are available — useful for assessing guidance, loan/ deposit trends and NIM commentary but they contain no dramatic guidance shift. Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Slide deck and official press release from the Q1 release are posted for deeper detail on results, trends and KPIs—worth reviewing for asset quality and margin drivers. Q1 Press Release / Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Some outlets used different framing of the quarter (e.g., “reports lower Q1 earnings” headlines) — this appears to be semantic or metric-specific rather than a contradiction of the EPS beat; investors should check the release for the underlying metrics. TipRanks

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.