Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.86.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $32,805.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $396,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,916 shares of the bank's stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $310,000. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,471,066 shares of the bank's stock valued at $70,037,000 after acquiring an additional 72,532 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ CATY traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.13. The stock had a trading volume of 153,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,954. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.06 and a 1-year high of $55.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10. The business had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.04 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.43%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

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.