Richard Sun Sells 20,000 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $1,266,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $463,112.65. The trade was a 73.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Richard Sun also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 30th, Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $316,550.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CATY stock opened at $63.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.86. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $43.65 and a 12-month high of $63.91.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 29.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. DA Davidson upped their price target 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. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,925 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 6.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.0% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,068 shares of the bank’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 57,646 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,788,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,036 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.