Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Price Target Cut to $41.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) had its price objective lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $46.00 to $41.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, April 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY opened at $35.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.79. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $45.72.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.04). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.41% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The business had revenue of $339.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 30.09%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Anthony M. Tang sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total value of $304,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 204,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,885,525. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $586,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,254,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $367,917,000 after buying an additional 196,146 shares during the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,014,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 861,364 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,391,000 after purchasing an additional 133,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 128.8% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 96,924 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 54,557 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.