Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Reaches New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Cathay General Bancorp hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $58.63, and was up about 0.7% on the day.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: the consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $51.75, even after recent target increases from Piper Sandler and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
• The bank reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS estimates at $1.29 per share, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.38 and a share buyback authorization.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $58.63 and last traded at $58.4550, with a volume of 64696 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CATY. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.7%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 275,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,780,197.16. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were 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 directly owned 2,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $150,808. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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. grew its position 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 approximately $41,140,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position 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. grew its position 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 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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