Wall Street Zen Downgrades Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) to Sell

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens cut Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.71.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $50.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $36.06 and a 12 month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10. The firm had revenue of $196.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,457 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,252,000 after purchasing an additional 8,860 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 11.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 58,021 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,473,000 after acquiring an additional 5,785 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 44,179 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 9,403 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $426,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 109.0% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 36,749 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 19,165 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by 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.