Richard Sun Sells 3,000 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Richard Sun sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $189,270.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,652. This represents a 51.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Richard Sun also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 30th, Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $316,550.00.
• On Wednesday, July 29th, Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $1,266,200.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ CATY traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $64.46. The company had a trading volume of 296,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 469,966. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.57 and a fifty-two week high of $64.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $61.57 and its 200 day moving average is $55.87.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%.The company had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 29.69%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CATY. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.25.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides a full suite of financial services to commercial, institutional and retail clients. As a community-focused institution, the company emphasizes relationship banking and tailored solutions for businesses and individuals.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.