<div id="readability-page-1"><p>Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of &#34;Hold&#34; from the six research firms that are  covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst  has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned  a hold rating and two have issued  a buy rating on  the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.60.</p><ul><li>Regional Bank Buybacks: 5 Institutions Making Big Moves</li></ul><p>Several brokerages have weighed in on CATY. Stephens downgraded Cathay General Bancorp from an &#34;overweight&#34; rating to an &#34;equal weight&#34; rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette &amp; Woods lifted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a &#34;market perform&#34; rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings  restated a &#34;buy (b-)&#34; rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a &#34;neutral&#34; rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a &#34;sell&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th.</p><div><p><span></span><span>Get <strong>Cathay General Bancorp</strong> alerts:</span></p></div><p><b>Read Our Latest Research Report on CATY</b></p><h2>Insider Buying and Selling</h2><p>In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.83, for a total transaction of $46,830.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $140,490. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. </p><h2>Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp</h2><p>A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in  Cathay General Bancorp by 2.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,457 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,252,000 after acquiring an additional 8,860 shares in the last quarter.  Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in  Cathay General Bancorp by 14.8% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 174,987 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,004,000 after acquiring an additional 22,558 shares in the last quarter.  VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of  Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,714,000.  Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of  Cathay General Bancorp by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 58,021 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,785 shares in the last quarter.  Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of  Cathay General Bancorp by 259.0% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 76,057 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,273,000 after purchasing an additional 54,870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own  75.01% of the company's stock. </p><h2>Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.5%</h2><p>Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $45.80 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50-day moving average price is $48.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.97. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.06 and a fifty-two week high of $55.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. </p><p>Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $210.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.71 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 10.60%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS.  Sell-side analysts anticipate that  Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year. </p><h2>Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement</h2><p>The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is 31.41%. </p><h2>Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile</h2> (Get Free Report)<p>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.</p><h2>See Also</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Cathay General Bancorp</li><li>There Are Different Types of Stock To Invest In</li><li>These 3 High-Momentum ETFs Are Riding the Tech Wave</li><li>How is Compound Interest Calculated?</li><li>Verizon Results Trigger Rebound in High-Yield Stock</li><li>What Are Growth Stocks and Investing in Them </li><li>Picks &amp; Shovels: Investing in the Physical Foundation of AI</li></ul><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/RatingsChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9Q0FUWQ?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="600" height="385" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/RatingsChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9Q0FUWQ"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Cathay General Bancorp Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Cathay General Bancorp, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Cathay General Bancorp wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Cathay General Bancorp currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

CATY

<p>Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from six research firms. One analyst rated it as a sell, three as hold, and two as buy. The average target price is $50.60. Recent changes include Stephens downgrading the stock to "equal weight" with a $50.00 target, while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target to $55.00. The stock opened at $45.80, with a market cap of $3.16 billion. The company reported $1.13 EPS, missing estimates, and had a revenue of $210.61 million for the last quarter.</p>

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts