Short Interest in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Rises By 16.3%

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, an increase of 16.3% from the February 13th total of 1,840,000 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 358,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.80.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 19,458 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,236 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,509,000 after buying an additional 7,837 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,615,000 after buying an additional 20,840 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $118,489,000 after buying an additional 87,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 104.3% in 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 last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock traded up $0.10 on Wednesday, hitting $43.83. 60,161 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 341,232. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.09. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $33.88 and a one year high of $55.29. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. On average, research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.34%.

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.