StockNews.com Downgrades Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) to Sell

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $37.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.12. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $45.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.15. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 27.02% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The company had revenue of $205.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.95 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Anthony M. Tang sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total transaction of $304,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 204,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,885,525. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CATY. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 29.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,156 shares of the bank’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 2,754 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 8.4% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 27,762 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,159 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 8.8% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 43,851 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 3,548 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.7% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 40,851 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,136,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.