Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Cathay General Bancorp from “strong buy” to “hold,” aligning with the broader analyst consensus of “hold” and an average price target of $62.25.
• Cathay reported quarterly EPS of $1.37, beating estimates of $1.35, while revenue rose 13.1% year over year to $221.2 million. The stock opened at $64.61, near its 12-month high of $65.05.
• Institutional investors own approximately 75.01% of the company, while insiders have recently sold shares, including a director’s sale of 20,000 shares valued at about $1.27 million.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens boosted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CATY opened at $64.61 on Wednesday. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $44.57 and a twelve month high of $65.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $61.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $1,266,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $463,112.65. This represents a 73.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,772,020. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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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