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

Key Points

• Shares carry a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from five brokerages (three hold, two buy) with an average one-year target price of $52.50.
• The bank beat expectations last quarter with EPS $1.33 vs. $1.20 estimate and revenue $222.83M vs. $211.76M, reported a ROE of 10.89%, and analysts project 4.47 EPS for the year.
• Cathay increased its quarterly dividend to $0.38 (annualized $1.52) for a yield of about 3.1% and a payout ratio near 33.5%.

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.50.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $48.85 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $50.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.06 and a 52 week high of $54.99.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $222.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.76 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 22.76%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Cathay General Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 33.48%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $50,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $100,460. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $7,426,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 158.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,809 shares of the bank's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $550,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.7% during the 4th 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. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 35,984 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,741,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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