Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.50.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CATY. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $50,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,460. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 6,740 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position 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 worth $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the first 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% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CATY opened at $47.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 0.86. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.13. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 22.76%.The business 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 business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.48%.

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.