Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.80.

Several brokerages recently commented on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the bank’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $43.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.72. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $33.88 and a one year high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.34%.

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.