Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.17.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CATY. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $112,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 32.7% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,172 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 11,614 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 85,426 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,676,000 after buying an additional 26,027 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% in 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 valued at $7,878,000 after buying an additional 8,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $43.25. 270,140 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 358,045. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $34.75 and a 1 year high of $55.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $41.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.91.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.34%.

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.