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

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.60.

Several research analysts have commented on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Stephens lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target 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.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of CATY opened at $47.83 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.06 and a 1 year high of $55.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.67.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $210.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.71 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 22.26%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.24, for a total transaction of $647,360.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 155,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,211,128. The trade was a 8.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 5,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.24, for a total value of $238,829.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,016,022.72. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,165 shares of company stock worth $1,457,270. Corporate insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 6.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,501 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 1,926 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,475 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,645,000 after purchasing an additional 5,343 shares during the period. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 97,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.