Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Richard Sun Sells 5,000 Shares

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $316,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $401,385.40. This trade represents a 44.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

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

• 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 value of $1,266,200.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY stock opened at $63.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $43.65 and a 1 year high of $63.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 29.69%.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during 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 during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during 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. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $80,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CATY shares. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.