Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.25.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Zacks Research lowered shares of 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 stock a “neutral” 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 report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Benchmark raised Cathay General Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $147,554.14. The trade was a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total value of $62,310.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $137,082. This trade represents a 31.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,996,362 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,444 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,216,000 after buying an additional 5,091 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $354,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $60.63 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.75. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $44.57 and a 1 year high of $65.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.45 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 $230.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.69%.

Key Headlines Impacting Cathay General Bancorp

Here are the key news stories impacting Cathay General Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose to $230.55 million, exceeding the $227.45 million analyst consensus, while earnings per share increased to $1.43 from $1.13 a year earlier. Cathay General Bancorp posts better-than-expected sales in Q3 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Net interest income before credit-loss provisions reached a record $211.9 million, up 5.5% sequentially. Net interest margin also expanded to 3.52% from 3.48%, indicating improved core banking profitability. Cathay General Bancorp Q3 2026 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its full-year loan-growth outlook to 5%–6% while maintaining its 3.40%–3.50% net interest margin forecast. Loans and deposits reached $21.20 billion and $21.83 billion, respectively, at quarter-end. Cathay General raises loan-growth outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Nonperforming assets declined 18% to $119.2 million, and Cathay redeemed approximately 45% of its outstanding trust-preferred securities, potentially improving balance-sheet flexibility. Cathay General Bancorp reports third-quarter net income
• Negative Sentiment: EPS of $1.43 fell short of estimates ranging from $1.44 to $1.45. More importantly, the provision for credit losses jumped to $28.6 million from $11.2 million in the prior quarter, highlighting rising credit-cost risks despite better asset-quality metrics. Cathay General Q3 earnings lag estimates

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions, with a particular focus on serving the Chinese American and broader communities in the markets where it operates.

Cathay Bank offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial lending, small-business financing, consumer loans, treasury management and other traditional banking services.