Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $52.06 and last traded at $51.8720, with a volume of 100189 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $49.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CATY. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.60.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.02). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $210.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 31.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 7,590 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.81, for a total value of $362,877.90. Following the sale, the chairman owned 138,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,614,991.60. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.83, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,755 shares of company stock worth $1,820,148. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,641 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.9% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,965 shares of the bank’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% during the third quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 21,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,703 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.