Insider Selling: Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Sells $189,270.00 in Stock

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Richard Sun sold 3,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $189,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,652. This represents a 51.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Richard Sun also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 30th, Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $316,550.00.
• On Wednesday, July 29th, Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $1,266,200.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $64.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 296,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 469,966. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $44.57 and a one year high of $64.89. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 29.69%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $76,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CATY. Zacks Research upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stephens increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.