Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Given New $58.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target suggests a potential upside of 6.11% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ CATY traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $54.66. 111,700 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 451,051. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $40.96 and a 1-year high of $55.21. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $243,492.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 127,819 shares in the company, valued at $6,435,686.65. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $50,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,460. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 4.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 10,485 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $1,486,000. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $91,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,837 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $7,426,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Cathay General Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat — Cathay reported $1.29 EPS vs. the $1.19 consensus, beating estimates and showing improvement from $0.98 a year ago; revenue of $213.2M also topped estimates. This beats-driven print is the primary positive catalyst. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Healthy growth metrics — Revenue rose ~14.4% year-over-year and profitability metrics (ROE ~10.9%, net margin ~22.8%) indicate improving core performance, supporting multiple expansion and valuation comfort for investors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management commentary available — Full Q1 earnings call transcripts and slide deck give investors detail on loan/deposit trends, margin outlook, and capital deployment; useful for parsing sustainability of the beat but not an immediate positive/negative trigger by itself. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional transcripts and coverage — Multiple transcript outlets (InsiderMonkey, Seeking Alpha) and the company presentation are available for deeper read; these are informative but typically confirm details rather than move the stock alone. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Conflicting headline wording — Some outlets used wording like “reports lower Q1 earnings” (likely referencing a different metric or quarter-to-quarter comparison), which can create short-term confusion; investors should rely on the company release and slides for definitive figures. Read More.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides a full suite of financial services to commercial, institutional and retail clients. As a community-focused institution, the company emphasizes relationship banking and tailored solutions for businesses and individuals.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.