Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $62.25 According to Analysts

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.25.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $64.22 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.76. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $44.82 and a twelve month high of $67.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $230.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.45 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 25.32% and a return on equity of 12.14%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Albert Sun sold 960 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.95, for a total transaction of $62,352.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $99,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,554.14. The trade was a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 4,560 shares of company stock worth $286,694 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,636,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $989,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 35.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 351,195 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,511,000 after acquiring an additional 91,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $1,757,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary is Cathay Bank. Founded in Los Angeles in 1962, Cathay Bank initially served the Chinese American community and has since expanded its customer base and operations.

The bank provides commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit accounts, business and personal loans, residential mortgage lending, and cash-management and trade-finance services. Customers can also access banking through digital channels.

Cathay Bank serves individuals and businesses across several U.S.