Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Chairman Dunson Cheng Sells 7,590 Shares

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Chairman Dunson Cheng sold 7,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.81, for a total value of $362,877.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 138,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,614,991.60. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

CATY stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.13. 644,400 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 411,566. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.06 and a 52 week high of $53.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.97.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $210.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.71 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 10.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday. Stephens lowered Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,348,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $25,856,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $23,188,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 375.1% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 420,509 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,189,000 after acquiring an additional 331,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CSM Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth $7,077,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.