Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $39.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CATY opened at $36.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 1.12. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $28.95 and a 12 month high of $45.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.04). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.41% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The business had revenue of $339.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,302 shares of the bank’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.6% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,620 shares of the bank’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 16.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 16.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.2% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 17,103 shares of the bank’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.