Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.60.

CATY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.83, for a total value of $46,830.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,490. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 5,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.24, for a total value of $238,829.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,016,022.72. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,755 shares of company stock worth $1,820,148. 4.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 5,438.5% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $51.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.88. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $36.06 and a twelve month high of $51.95. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.40.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $210.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.71 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 10.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 31.41%.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.