Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $47.75.

A number of research firms have commented on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on 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 increased their target price on 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, Stephens upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CATY opened at $46.99 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 1.13. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $33.88 and a 12-month high of $55.29.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.26%.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,873. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total value of $2,114,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 295,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,609,973.24. This trade represents a 11.93 % 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 90 days. 4.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.9% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,954 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $499,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,262,970 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,639,000 after purchasing an additional 208,599 shares during the last quarter. 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.