Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on Cathay General Bancorp to $67 from $64, implying about 9% upside from the current share price, while keeping a market perform rating.
• The company recently posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.37 topping estimates and revenue of $221.2 million also ahead of expectations, while revenue rose 13.1% year over year.
• Cathay General Bancorp’s board approved a share repurchase program, and institutional ownership remains high at 75.01%, even as several insiders have recently sold shares.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the bank's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.19% from the stock's current price.

CATY has been the topic of several other research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $61.36 on Thursday. 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 $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.57. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $43.65 and a 1-year high of $63.91.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The business had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has approved a share 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 purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 275,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $150,808. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CATY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 150,601 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,230,000 after buying an additional 42,868 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1,274,076.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 484,187 shares of the bank's stock worth $23,430,000 after acquiring an additional 484,149 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $5,550,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $1,505,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,140,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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