Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Price

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $55.00 to $58.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective points to a potential upside of 6.11% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY traded up $0.88 on Thursday, reaching $54.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 111,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 451,051. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $50.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.72. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $40.96 and a 52-week high of $55.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.82.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.27 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $50,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $100,460. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $243,492.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 127,819 shares in the company, valued at $6,435,686.65. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 10.9% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 10,485 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,486,000. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.4% in the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,837 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,426,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Cathay General Bancorp News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cathay General Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat — Cathay reported $1.29 EPS vs. the $1.19 consensus, beating estimates and showing improvement from $0.98 a year ago; revenue of $213.2M also topped estimates. This beats-driven print is the primary positive catalyst. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Healthy growth metrics — Revenue rose ~14.4% year-over-year and profitability metrics (ROE ~10.9%, net margin ~22.8%) indicate improving core performance, supporting multiple expansion and valuation comfort for investors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management commentary available — Full Q1 earnings call transcripts and slide deck give investors detail on loan/deposit trends, margin outlook, and capital deployment; useful for parsing sustainability of the beat but not an immediate positive/negative trigger by itself. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional transcripts and coverage — Multiple transcript outlets (InsiderMonkey, Seeking Alpha) and the company presentation are available for deeper read; these are informative but typically confirm details rather than move the stock alone. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Conflicting headline wording — Some outlets used wording like “reports lower Q1 earnings” (likely referencing a different metric or quarter-to-quarter comparison), which can create short-term confusion; investors should rely on the company release and slides for definitive figures. Read More.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides a full suite of financial services to commercial, institutional and retail clients. As a community-focused institution, the company emphasizes relationship banking and tailored solutions for businesses and individuals.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.