Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives $50.60 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.60.

Several research firms have issued reports on CATY. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $50.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.85. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $36.06 and a 52-week high of $51.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.02). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The business had revenue of $210.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.83, for a total transaction of $46,830.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,490. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 5,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.24, for a total value of $238,829.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 108,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,016,022.72. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,755 shares of company stock worth $1,820,148. 4.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 6,740 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 183,090 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.