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 upped by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $51.00 to $52.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the bank's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target indicates a potential upside of 11.54% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CATY. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.86.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of CATY traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $46.62. The company had a trading volume of 395,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 445,371. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.48. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.93. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $36.06 and a 12-month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The firm had revenue of $196.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 4th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,916 shares of the bank's stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $239,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,471,066 shares of the bank's stock worth $70,037,000 after purchasing an additional 72,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 14,674 shares of the bank's stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 3,490 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.