Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $62.43 and last traded at $61.83, with a volume of 499745 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 2.1%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.26 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $31,248.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,808. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 275,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,780,197.16. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 25,394 shares of company stock worth $1,421,341 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is currently 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.