Wedbush Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $44.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Cathay General Bancorp’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.90 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.96 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.04 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $4.00 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.99 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.03 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.10 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.12 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $4.25 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Saturday, April 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $39.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $35.04 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.61 and its 200 day moving average is $38.79. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $45.72.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.04). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.41% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The business had revenue of $339.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.85 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 30.09%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Anthony M. Tang sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total value of $304,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 204,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,885,525. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,116,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 178,450 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,996,000 after buying an additional 24,317 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 970,537 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,257,000 after acquiring an additional 3,385 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,654,350 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,505,000 after acquiring an additional 75,749 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 12.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 738,787 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,680,000 after acquiring an additional 83,370 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.