Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.50.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $50,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $100,460. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after buying an additional 6,740 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,738,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 183,090 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,878,000 after acquiring an additional 8,914 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $48.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $50.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.25. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.06 and a 1 year high of $54.99.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $222.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.48%.

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.