Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $49.34 and last traded at $49.34, with a volume of 2600 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CATY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wedbush raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 3.6 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $44.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $555,440.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 149,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,699,061.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 7,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.05, for a total transaction of $342,947.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 347,963 shares in the company, valued at $16,371,659.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total value of $555,440.79. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 149,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,699,061.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,590 shares of company stock worth $940,688. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Access Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.1% in the second quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 20,520 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 765 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.