Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Upgraded by Stephens to Overweight Rating

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was upgraded by analysts at Stephens from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $51.00 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.12. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $33.88 and a one year high of $55.29. 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 (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 11.30%. The business had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,873. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 7,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.05, for a total transaction of $342,947.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 347,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,371,659.15. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,500,047 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Access Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 20,520 shares of the bank’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 765 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,327 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.