Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Cathay General Bancorp received a consensus “Hold” rating from five analysts, with one sell, three hold, and one buy recommendation. The average 1-year price target is $51.75.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting EPS of $1.29 versus the $1.19 estimate and revenue of $213.2 million, up 14.4% year over year. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of 5.4.
• Cathay recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share and announced a share repurchase program, signaling confidence in its stock. The stock also traded near its 52-week high, opening at $59.91 against a range of $42.01 to $60.12.

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.75.

Several research firms recently issued reports on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 127,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,435,686.65. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $31,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,808. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,394 shares of company stock worth $1,421,341. Insiders own 4.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,007 shares of the bank's stock worth $201,930,000 after buying an additional 17,444 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,685,203 shares of the bank's stock worth $81,547,000 after buying an additional 105,484 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $41,140,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 669,527 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,398,000 after buying an additional 48,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 580,038 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,068,000 after buying an additional 67,898 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $59.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.17. The company has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.86. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $42.01 and a 1 year high of $60.12.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.27 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. Cathay General Bancorp's quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.

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