Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Short Interest Up 16.3% in February

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, a growth of 16.3% from the February 13th total of 1,840,000 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 358,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CATY shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target 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. Stephens lowered their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.80.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,974,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,898. 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 has a 12-month low of $33.88 and a 12-month high of $55.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.69. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 1.09.

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Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 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, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.34%.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,230,722 shares of the bank's stock worth $201,426,000 after purchasing an additional 12,684 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,861,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $136,236,000 after buying an additional 102,724 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,650 shares of the bank's stock worth $73,615,000 after acquiring an additional 20,840 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,519,442 shares of the bank's stock worth $72,341,000 after acquiring an additional 85,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,471,066 shares of the bank's stock valued at $70,037,000 after acquiring an additional 72,532 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.