Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Sets New 1-Year High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $55.21 and last traded at $54.7350, with a volume of 61967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.78.

The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.27 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 23.79%.The business’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. 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 dividend yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.48%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Key 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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

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

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.93 and a 200 day moving average of $49.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.82.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.