Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $64.27 and last traded at $64.15, with a volume of 22674 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CATY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.43.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $316,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,340 shares in the company, valued at $401,385.40. This trade represents a 44.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $80,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is owned by 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.