Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.91% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CATY. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.17.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $43.12 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $34.75 and a 12 month high of $55.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.76 and a 200-day moving average of $45.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.91.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $32,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,770 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,747 shares of the bank’s stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,961 shares of the bank’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

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.