Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.17.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CATY opened at $44.37 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $34.75 and a twelve month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $180,000. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,770 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,747 shares of the bank’s stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,961 shares of the bank’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.