Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $65.05 and last traded at $64.92, with a volume of 5990 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CATY. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. 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 report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.5%

The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.12.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%.The firm had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Cathay General Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Director Richard Sun sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $189,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,652. This represents a 51.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 28,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,772,020 over the last three months. 4.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.