Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.13, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $195.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.76 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 22.26%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Cathay General Bancorp’s conference call:

• Q4 net income of $90.5M (+16.5% QoQ) and diluted EPS $1.33, with full-year 2025 net income $315.1M (+10.1% YoY); repurchased 1.1M shares for $51.9M and expect to complete the remaining $12M of the $150M program, with a new buyback planned.
• Net interest margin rose to 3.36% in Q4 and management guides NIM of 3.4%–3.5% for 2026, assuming ~60% deposit betas and benefits from a large portion of fixed-rate/hybrid loans as rates decline.
• Credit metrics show improvement in Q4 — net charge-offs fell to $5.4M and non-accruals declined to 0.6% of loans — but special mention loans increased to $535M (five relationships of $92M downgraded) that management expects to resolve within 12 months.
• Deposit balances grew $373M in Q4 and management expects 4%–5% deposit growth in 2026; although uninsured deposits total $9.3B, available liquidity (FHLB, FRB capacity and unpledged securities) covers >100% of uninsured balances and capital ratios ticked up slightly.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

CATY opened at $52.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.85. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $36.06 and a 12 month high of $53.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.35.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of 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 research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 7,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.81, for a total transaction of $362,877.90. Following the sale, the chairman owned 138,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,614,991.60. This trade represents a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.83, for a total value of $46,830.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,490. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 38,755 shares of company stock worth $1,820,148 over the last ninety days. 4.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.4% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 14,116 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 81,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

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.