Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) SVP May Chan Sells 558 Shares

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) SVP May Chan sold 558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,808. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $54.80 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.96. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $40.96 and a 1-year high of $56.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.27 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 23.79%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter worth $43,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CATY shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

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.