Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CATY. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $61.62 on Tuesday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $43.65 and a 52-week high of $61.97. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.11 and its 200 day moving average is $52.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.26 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 23.79%.The business’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $6,435,686.65. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 275,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 3,030 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 6,740 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 183,090 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,878,000 after acquiring an additional 8,914 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.