Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Price Target Raised to $67.00

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $62.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29 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. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $43.65 and a 12-month high of $63.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.72.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 275,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at $150,808. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

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

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.