Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives $51.75 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.75.

Several analysts have commented on CATY shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $61.66 on Tuesday. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $43.65 and a one year high of $63.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.04 and a 200-day moving average of $53.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase 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 shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 275,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $31,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,808. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 6,740 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 8,914 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.