Piper Sandler Lowers Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Price Target to $43.00

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Piper Sandler from $45.00 to $43.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target suggests a potential downside of 9.85% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on CATY. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.80.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 1.9 %

Cathay General Bancorp stock traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $47.70. 26,176 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 334,593. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $33.88 and a fifty-two week high of $55.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.32 and its 200-day moving average is $45.80.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.75% and a net margin of 20.57%. On average, analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,873. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 295,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,609,973.24. This trade represents a 11.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,189 shares of company stock worth $2,500,047 over the last three months. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP increased 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 during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 24.9% during 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 68.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors 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.