Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total transaction of $62,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $137,082. This represents a 31.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Richard Sun also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 25th, Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.08, for a total transaction of $62,080.00.
• On Monday, August 10th, Richard Sun sold 3,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $189,270.00.
• On Thursday, July 30th, Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $316,550.00.
• On Wednesday, July 29th, Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $1,266,200.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.9%

CATY traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $62.58. The company had a trading volume of 419,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 461,601. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $62.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.06. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $44.57 and a 52 week high of $65.25. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,925 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.0% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 57,646 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 36,078 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.25.

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.