Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

18 May 2026, 04:34 by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat Gem

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY – Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings 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 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.00.

A number of research firms have issued reports on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $55.61 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $41.83 and a 1 year high of $58.00. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day moving average is $52.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.65.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 275,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,780,197.16. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $243,492.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,435,686.65. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,394 shares of company stock worth $1,421,341. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,007 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $201,930,000 after acquiring an additional 17,444 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,685,203 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,547,000 after acquiring an additional 105,484 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,140,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 669,527 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,398,000 after acquiring an additional 48,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 580,038 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,068,000 after acquiring an additional 67,898 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.