Cathay General Bancorp’s (CATY) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $51.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.60.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

CATY stock opened at $42.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $34.42 and a 1 year high of $55.29. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.25.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the bank’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. 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.