Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have received an average rating 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, four have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.25.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CATY shares. Zacks Research downgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $1,266,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $463,112.65. This trade represents a 73.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 28,000 shares of company stock worth $1,772,020 over the last ninety days. 4.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $61.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $44.57 and a twelve month high of $65.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.72.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%.The firm had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 29.69%.

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.