Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Price Target Raised to $52.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $51.00 to $52.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the bank's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.73% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.86.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:CATY traded down $1.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 604,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,647. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.33 and a 200-day moving average of $44.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.93. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.06 and a fifty-two week high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 21.44%. The business had revenue of $196.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Cathay General Bancorp's revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $36,231,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $25,856,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $23,188,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 112.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 331,862 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,800,000 after buying an additional 175,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,970,173 shares of the bank's stock valued at $127,807,000 after buying an additional 108,672 shares during the last quarter. 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.