Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Price

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has raised its target price for Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) from $53.00 to $55.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.70% from the current price.
• Despite a recent earnings miss of $1.13 EPS compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15, Cathay General Bancorp reported revenues of $210.61 million, surpassing analyst expectations of $202.71 million.
• Investment ratings for Cathay General Bancorp are mixed, with three analysts rating it as a "Buy", three as "Hold", and one as "Sell", leading to an average rating of "Hold" with a target price of $50.67.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "market perform" rating on the bank's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.70% from the company's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stephens cut Cathay General Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cathay General Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.67.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.3%

CATY opened at $47.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.94. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $36.06 and a 12 month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $210.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.71 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 5,438.5% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 720 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter worth $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter worth $46,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 174.8% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,201 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.

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