Brokerages Set Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Price Target at $47.75

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $47.75.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY stock opened at $47.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $33.88 and a 12-month high of $55.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 1.13.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 11.30%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 7,289 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.05, for a total transaction of $342,947.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 347,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,371,659.15. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $42,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,873. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,500,047. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,194,232 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $158,206,000 after purchasing an additional 176,215 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,758,777 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,489,000 after purchasing an additional 87,847 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,650 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,615,000 after purchasing an additional 20,840 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,262,970 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,639,000 after buying an additional 208,599 shares during the period. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 39.3% in the third quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 256,404 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,013,000 after buying an additional 72,300 shares during 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.