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

Key Points

• Analysts rate Cathay General Bancorp “Hold” on average: Four of six covering brokers recommend holding the stock, while one rates it a sell and one a buy. The average 12-month price target is $62.25.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Cathay reported $1.37 in EPS versus the $1.35 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 13.1% year over year to $221.2 million.
• The company declared a $0.38 quarterly dividend, equivalent to $1.52 annually and a 2.5% yield. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the stock, while insiders have sold 28,000 shares worth approximately $1.77 million over the past 90 days.

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.25.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CATY shares. Zacks Research downgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $1,266,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at $463,112.65. This trade represents a 73.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 28,000 shares of company stock worth $1,772,020 over the last ninety days. 4.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $61.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $44.57 and a twelve month high of $65.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.72.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%.The firm had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 29.69%.

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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