Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.80.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.1 %

CATY stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.48. 149,278 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 336,376. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $33.88 and a one year high of $55.29. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $49.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.93. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total transaction of $2,114,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 295,252 shares in the company, valued at $15,609,973.24. This represents a 11.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 76.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 765 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the bank's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,730 shares of the bank's stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.