Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.00.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 6th.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

CATY opened at $36.77 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.89. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $27.75 and a 52-week high of $45.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 1.12.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $339.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.85 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.41% and a return on equity of 13.02%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $929,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.6% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 158,597 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,513,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 18.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,913 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,153 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is 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.