Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.80.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CATY. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY stock opened at $45.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.36. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.12. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $33.88 and a 12 month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

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.