Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.71.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.4%

CATY opened at $49.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 1.00. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $36.06 and a 12 month high of $55.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.10. The business had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.04 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5,438.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 174.8% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.