Short Interest in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Increases By 8.7%

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,500,000 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the November 30th total of 2,300,000 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 306,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.2 days.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.61. 289,166 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 329,541. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $33.88 and a 1 year high of $55.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $359.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CATY shares. Stephens raised Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 7,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.05, for a total transaction of $342,947.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 347,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,371,659.15. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $42,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,873. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,500,047 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 332.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 19,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,615,000 after purchasing an additional 20,840 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,758,777 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,489,000 after buying an additional 87,847 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 104.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,257,000 after buying an additional 74,394 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $378,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by 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.