Wall Street Zen Upgrades Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) to "Hold"

Key Points

• Cathay General Bancorp has been upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a shift in analysts' outlook on the stock.
• The bank's stock has a current average target price of $49.71, with a mix of ratings from different analysts, including two "buy" ratings and four "hold" ratings.
• Cathay General Bancorp recently announced a stock buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of up to $150 million in outstanding shares, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also commented on CATY. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price target on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 4th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.71.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

CATY traded up $0.55 on Friday, reaching $50.38. The company had a trading volume of 288,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,151. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.06 and a 1 year high of $55.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.59.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,457 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,252,000 after purchasing an additional 8,860 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 58,021 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,785 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $426,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 310,246 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,771,000 after buying an additional 14,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $23,188,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.