Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.25.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CATY shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Benchmark raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Albert Sun sold 960 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.95, for a total value of $62,352.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total value of $62,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,082. This trade represents a 31.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 4,560 shares of company stock valued at $286,694 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,006,000. TIAA CREF Individual & Institutional Services LLC increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 137.2% during the third quarter. TIAA CREF Individual & Institutional Services LLC now owns 14,594 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $868,000 after buying an additional 8,442 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.6% in the third quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 673,158 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,053,000 after buying an additional 16,894 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $28,481,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 13.0% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 319,328 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,923,000 after buying an additional 36,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $65.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.90. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $44.82 and a one year high of $67.62.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($0.02). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 25.32% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The company had revenue of $230.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.45 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary is Cathay Bank. Founded in Los Angeles in 1962, Cathay Bank initially served the Chinese American community and has since expanded its customer base and operations. The bank provides commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit accounts, business and personal loans, residential mortgage lending, and cash-management and trade-finance services. Customers can also access banking through digital channels. Cathay Bank serves individuals and businesses across several U.S. states, with a presence in markets including California, New York, Illinois, Texas, and Washington.