Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Short Interest Update

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the September 30th total of 2,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 291,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.9 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company's shares are short sold.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 0.5 %

CATY stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $46.48. 116,133 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 325,256. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.11. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.55 and a twelve month high of $47.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total value of $555,440.79. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 149,566 shares in the company, valued at $6,699,061.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.76% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.