Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Rating Upgraded by Benchmark

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was upgraded by Benchmark to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research cut Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $61.13 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.60 and its 200 day moving average is $58.21. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $44.57 and a 52 week high of $65.25.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The firm had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total transaction of $62,310.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at $137,082. This represents a 31.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $99,952.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $147,554.14. This trade represents a 40.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,996,362. 4.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $604,644,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,007 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $201,930,000 after acquiring an additional 17,444 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $41,140,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,799,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $26,052,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, is a full-service commercial bank established in 1962 to serve the financial needs of Chinese American communities. Cathay General Bancorp was formed as the bank’s holding company in 1990.

Cathay Bank provides a range of banking and financial services for businesses, individuals and institutions. Its offerings include commercial and residential real estate loans, commercial and industrial financing, Small Business Administration loans, consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and wealth-management solutions.

The company primarily serves customers in major metropolitan areas across California and in selected markets in New York, Texas, Washington, Nevada, Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts.