Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) PT Set at $53.00 by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the bank's stock.

CATY has been the subject of several other research reports. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.17.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock traded down $0.27 on Wednesday, reaching $42.85. The stock had a trading volume of 271,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,605. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business's 50-day moving average price is $41.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 0.91. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $34.75 and a fifty-two week high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is 34.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,000. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CATY. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $46,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 174.8% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,201 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.