Cathay General Bancorp’s (CATY) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $44.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Cathay General Bancorp’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.90 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.96 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.04 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $4.00 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.99 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.03 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.10 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.12 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $4.25 EPS.

CATY has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, April 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $39.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $35.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.79. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $27.24 and a 12-month high of $45.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $339.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.85 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 24.41%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 30.09%.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Anthony M. Tang sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total value of $304,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 204,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,885,525. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,831,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 402.2% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 45,161 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 36,169 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $242,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 6.5% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 967,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,618,000 after purchasing an additional 58,727 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $929,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.