Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Price

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) had its price target increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $55.25 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.93 and its 200-day moving average is $49.76. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $40.96 and a 1-year high of $55.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.82.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 23.79%.The firm had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 33.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $243,492.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 127,819 shares in the company, valued at $6,435,686.65. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $50,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,460. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 4.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Cathay General Bancorp

Here are the key news stories impacting Cathay General Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat consensus — EPS $1.29 vs. $1.19 expected and revenue $213.2M (+14.4% YoY); margins and ROE remained healthy, supporting the upbeat investor reaction. Cathay General (CATY) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target from $55 to $58 (maintaining a “market perform” rating), signaling modest analyst confidence and incremental upside in the shares. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call transcript and management commentary are available — useful for assessing guidance, loan/ deposit trends and NIM commentary but they contain no dramatic guidance shift. Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Slide deck and official press release from the Q1 release are posted for deeper detail on results, trends and KPIs—worth reviewing for asset quality and margin drivers. Q1 Press Release / Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Some outlets used different framing of the quarter (e.g., “reports lower Q1 earnings” headlines) — this appears to be semantic or metric-specific rather than a contradiction of the EPS beat; investors should check the release for the underlying metrics. TipRanks

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides a full suite of financial services to commercial, institutional and retail clients. As a community-focused institution, the company emphasizes relationship banking and tailored solutions for businesses and individuals.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.