Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at DA Davidson today. The stock closed yesterday at $19.81 on volume of 177,000 shares, below average daily volume of 436,000.

Cathay General Bancorp is the holding company for Cathay Bank. The Bank accepts deposits and originates various loans, and offers trade financing, spot and forward contracts, internet banking, global investment services, and other services. Cathay Bank operates in California, New York, Texas, Washington, and Massachusetts.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) is currently priced 3.1% above its average consensus analyst price target of $19.20. The stock should discover initial support at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $18.19 and subsequent support at its 200-day MA of $17.19.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Cathay General Bancorp have traded between a low of $15.01 and a high of $20.10 and closed yesterday at $19.81, which is 32% above that low price. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has climbed 0.7% while the 200-day MA has risen 0.2%.

SmarTrend recommended that subscribers consider buying shares of Cathay General Bancorp on September 6th, 2012 as our proprietary SmarTrend analytics indicated a new Uptrend was in progress when shares hit $17.01. Since that recommendation, shares of Cathay General Bancorp have risen 16.5%. We continue to monitor CATY for any potential shift so investors can protect gains and will alert SmarTrend subscribers immediately.