Insider Selling: Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Sells 20,000 Shares

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 7,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $463,112.65. This represents a 73.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

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%

CATY traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.19. 563,241 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 525,346. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.68 and its 200 day moving average is $55.18. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $43.65 and a 12 month high of $63.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current 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 repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued 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%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,140,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1,274,076.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 484,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,430,000 after purchasing an additional 484,149 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 375.1% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 420,509 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,189,000 after purchasing an additional 331,997 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $7,426,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $6,355,000. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CATY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. DA Davidson increased 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 note on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.25.

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.