Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.25.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson upped their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $99,952.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,554.14. This represents a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total value of $62,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $137,082. This represents a 31.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,996,362. Corporate insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $604,644,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,007 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $201,930,000 after purchasing an additional 17,444 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,140,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $40,799,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1,274,076.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 484,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,430,000 after acquiring an additional 484,149 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of CATY opened at $61.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.85. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.57 and a fifty-two week high of $65.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.23.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.69%.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, is a full-service commercial bank established in 1962 to serve the financial needs of Chinese American communities. Cathay General Bancorp was formed as the bank’s holding company in 1990.

Cathay Bank provides a range of banking and financial services for businesses, individuals and institutions. Its offerings include commercial and residential real estate loans, commercial and industrial financing, Small Business Administration loans, consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and wealth-management solutions.

The company primarily serves customers in major metropolitan areas across California and in selected markets in New York, Texas, Washington, Nevada, Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts.