Short Interest in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Drops By 9.5%

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,000,000 shares, a decline of 9.5% from the January 15th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 347,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens lowered their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wedbush lifted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

CATY stock opened at $46.87 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 1.12. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $33.88 and a 12-month high of $55.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.32.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.34%.

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.