Insider Selling: Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Sells 1,000 Shares

Key Points

• Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 CATY shares at an average price of $62.31, generating $62,310 and reducing his direct holdings by 31.25% to 2,200 shares. The sale follows four other transactions in which he sold a combined 29,000 shares.
• Cathay General Bancorp shares rose 0.9% to $62.58, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.17 billion. The bank recently exceeded quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $1.37 in EPS and $221.2 million in revenue.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, equivalent to $1.52 annually and a 2.4% yield. Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) Director Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total value of $62,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $137,082. The trade was a 31.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Richard Sun also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 25th, Richard Sun sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.08, for a total value of $62,080.00.
• On Monday, August 10th, Richard Sun sold 3,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $189,270.00.
• On Thursday, July 30th, Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $316,550.00.
• On Wednesday, July 29th, Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $1,266,200.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:CATY traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $62.58. 419,340 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 461,601. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.57 and a fifty-two week high of $65.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on 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. Zacks Research lowered Cathay General Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Stephens upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $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 acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during 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.

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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