Stephens Upgrades Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) to Overweight

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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 research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CATY stock opened at $51.00 on Monday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $33.88 and a 52-week high of $55.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.10. The company 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 (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $359.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

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

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 765 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 168.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $201,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently 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.