Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $44.59, but opened at $46.28. Cathay General Bancorp shares last traded at $44.37, with a volume of 31,796 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CATY. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $43.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.61.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 22.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.09%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $903,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 355,252 shares in the company, valued at $16,053,837.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total value of $903,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 355,252 shares in the company, valued at $16,053,837.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kim R. Bingham sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.89, for a total transaction of $269,340.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,530 shares in the company, valued at $2,043,841.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,728,581 in the last 90 days. 4.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 765 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 168.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,675 shares of the bank's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.