Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $65.25 and last traded at $64.4330, with a volume of 12,496 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on CATY shares. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Benchmark raised Cathay General Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.24.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.45 by ($0.02). Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 25.32%. The company had revenue of $230.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $99,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $147,554.14. The trade was a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Albert Sun sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.95, for a total value of $62,352.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,560 shares of company stock valued at $475,964. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CATY. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 7.7% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 20,715 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.0% during the third quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 21,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $34,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,444 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,216,000 after buying an additional 5,091 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the bank’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions, with a particular focus on serving the Chinese American and broader communities in the markets where it operates.

Cathay Bank offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial lending, small-business financing, consumer loans, treasury management and other traditional banking services.