Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $53.85, but opened at $51.50. Cathay General Bancorp shares last traded at $51.50, with a volume of 312 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.50 and its 200 day moving average is $42.10.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $42,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,873. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total value of $2,114,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 295,252 shares in the company, valued at $15,609,973.24. This trade represents a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,189 shares of company stock worth $2,500,047. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CATY. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 62,586 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,366,000 after buying an additional 4,655 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,085 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,517,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $416,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 168.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 504.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,568 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 20,502 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

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.