Insider Selling: Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) EVP Sells $50,230.00 in Stock

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) EVP Thomas Lo sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $50,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $100,460. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $53.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.55. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $36.06 and a 52-week high of $54.99.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.13. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $222.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CATY. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5,438.5% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

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.