Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives $52.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.50.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $50,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,460. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,426,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 158.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,809 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $550,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,685,203 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,547,000 after buying an additional 105,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 35,984 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of CATY stock opened at $49.86 on Friday. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.13. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $222.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 33.48%.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.