Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $62.43 and last traded at $61.83, with a volume of 499745 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CATY. Zacks Research raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $57.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.26 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $1,146,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 275,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,780,197.16. This represents a 6.77% 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 4,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $243,492.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,819 shares in the company, valued at $6,435,686.65. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CATY. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $80,000. 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.