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 analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $64.00 to $67.00 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 9.19% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ CATY opened at $61.36 on Thursday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $43.65 and a 12 month high of $63.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.57.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction 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 represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 275,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,780,197.16. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 6,740 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 183,090 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

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.