Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,000,000 shares, a drop of 9.5% from the January 15th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 347,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.8 days. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.80.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 0.0 %

CATY stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $46.58. 193,346 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 337,030. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.24. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $33.88 and a 1-year high of $55.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,271,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 44,399 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,890,000 after acquiring an additional 4,855 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 179.5% in the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 49,688 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 31,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 150,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. 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.