Analysts Set Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Target Price at $49.71

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.7143.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. Stephens cut Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price target on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 310,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,771,000 after acquiring an additional 14,121 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $265,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,770 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 118.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 90,721 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,319,000 after purchasing an additional 49,129 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ CATY opened at $49.13 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 1.00. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $36.06 and a one year high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10. The business had revenue of $196.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.04 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.