Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $61.65 and last traded at $61.3110, with a volume of 70100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.89.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,808. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $243,492.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,435,686.65. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,394 shares of company stock worth $1,421,341 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after buying an additional 6,740 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 183,090 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,878,000 after buying an additional 8,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $57.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.96.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The business had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.