Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) saw a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,030,000 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the March 31st total of 1,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 383,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,254,816 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $367,917,000 after acquiring an additional 196,146 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,850,356 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $171,613,000 after purchasing an additional 150,331 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,053,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $91,520,000 after purchasing an additional 25,421 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,654,350 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,505,000 after buying an additional 75,749 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,540,402 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,543,000 after buying an additional 124,851 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $35.18 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $27.24 and a 12-month high of $45.72.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.04). Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 24.41%. The company had revenue of $339.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 30.09%.

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.