Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $53.85, but opened at $51.50. Cathay General Bancorp shares last traded at $51.50, with a volume of 312 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CATY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 20.57%. The company had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,873. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total transaction of $2,114,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 295,252 shares in the company, valued at $15,609,973.24. The trade was a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,189 shares of company stock worth $2,500,047. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 765 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth $40,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 168.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. 75.01% of the stock is 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.