Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.75.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 275,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,808. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.7%

CATY opened at $59.91 on Friday. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $42.01 and a fifty-two week high of $60.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.17. The company has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.34%.

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.

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.