Analysts Set Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) PT at $62.25

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.25.

CATY has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson raised 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. 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 research note on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $60.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.68 and a 200-day moving average of $58.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.85. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $44.57 and a 12 month high of $65.25.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Cathay General Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 29.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $99,952.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,554.14. The trade was a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $137,082. This represents a 31.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,996,362 over the last 90 days. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $30,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,431 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,889,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

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.