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

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Cathay General Bancorp, with four hold, one sell, and one buy rating among six firms. The average 12-month price target is $62.25.
• Cathay General Bancorp exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.37 EPS versus the $1.35 consensus and $221.2 million in revenue, up 13.1% year over year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.38, equivalent to an annualized $1.52 payout and a 2.4% yield; insiders sold 31,600 shares worth nearly $2.0 million over the past three months.

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

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

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ CATY opened at $62.25 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $62.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.84. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $44.57 and a twelve month high of $65.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $99,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $147,554.14. This represents a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total value of $62,310.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at $137,082. This trade represents a 31.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,996,362 over the last three months. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.5% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,431 shares of the bank's stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter worth $354,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,889,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, is a full-service commercial bank established in 1962 to serve the financial needs of Chinese American communities. Cathay General Bancorp was formed as the bank's holding company in 1990.

Cathay Bank provides a range of banking and financial services for businesses, individuals and institutions. Its offerings include commercial and residential real estate loans, commercial and industrial financing, Small Business Administration loans, consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and wealth-management solutions.

The company primarily serves customers in major metropolitan areas across California and in selected markets in New York, Texas, Washington, Nevada, Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

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