Insider Selling: Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $316,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,340 shares in the company, valued at $401,385.40. The trade was a 44.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, July 29th, Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $1,266,200.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.19. 563,241 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 525,346. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $43.65 and a 52-week high of $63.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.18. The company has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 plan on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CATY. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens increased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during the fourth 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. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.