Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives $49.71 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.7143.

CATY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens cut shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 152.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 33,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 20,114 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 120.9% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 16,670 shares of the bank’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 9,125 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 280,428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,768,000 after purchasing an additional 20,645 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 332.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,114 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 8,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 161.1% in the 2nd quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 41,863 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,906,000 after buying an additional 25,831 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ CATY opened at $49.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.98 and a 200 day moving average of $44.72. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.06 and a 1 year high of $55.29. 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 (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.10. The company had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 21.44%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

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.