Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives $51.75 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.75.

Several analysts have issued reports on CATY shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $31,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,808. This represents a 17.16% 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 the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $1,146,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 275,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,780,197.16. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $59.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.56. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $42.92 and a 52-week high of $61.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 23.79%.The firm had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.