Insider Selling: Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Sells $62,080.00 in Stock

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.08, for a total value of $62,080.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,656. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Richard Sun also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 10th, Richard Sun sold 3,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $189,270.00.
• On Thursday, July 30th, Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $316,550.00.
• On Wednesday, July 29th, Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $1,266,200.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $62.12. 286,378 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 356,451. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.84. The company has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.86. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $44.57 and a twelve month high of $65.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The business had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.28 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 29.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CATY. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during 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.