Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.50.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 14,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.24, for a total value of $647,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 155,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,211,128. The trade was a 8.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $50,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $100,460. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 33,590 shares of company stock valued at $1,584,718 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 5,438.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% during the 3rd 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 bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth $43,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $76,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 1.8%

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $53.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $36.06 and a twelve month high of $54.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.87.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.13. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 22.76%.The business had revenue of $222.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

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.