Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.80.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens reduced their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $46.95 on Friday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $33.88 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.12.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. On average, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 34.34%.

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.