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

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.75.

CATY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.9 %

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $47.54 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.68. 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 data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.01). Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 20.57%. The company had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,954 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $499,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,262,970 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,639,000 after buying an additional 208,599 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.