Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given New $55.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) had its price target decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $56.00 to $55.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price suggests a potential upside of 12.75% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of CATY opened at $48.78 on Thursday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $33.88 and a 12 month high of $55.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.51 and its 200-day moving average is $45.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 11.30%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CATY. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 32.7% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 10,222 shares of the bank’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 63.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 111,183 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,194,000 after buying an additional 43,285 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 27.0% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 7.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 160,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,044,000 after buying an additional 11,324 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LP lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 128.8% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 18,892 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 10,634 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.