Brokerages Set Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) PT at $47.75

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.75.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CATY. Stephens upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wedbush boosted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $51.27 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.16. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.88 and a twelve month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.26%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,873. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total value of $2,114,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 295,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,609,973.24. This represents a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,500,047 over the last 90 days. 4.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 504.2% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,568 shares of the bank’s stock worth $927,000 after acquiring an additional 20,502 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,758,777 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,489,000 after purchasing an additional 87,847 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $378,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,804 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,124,000 after buying an additional 8,429 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 135,681 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,827,000 after buying an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.