15,392 Shares in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Acquired by Horizon Investments LLC

Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,392 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Access Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 21,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,703 shares of the bank’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,036 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of CATY stock opened at $56.99 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.24. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $41.83 and a twelve month high of $58.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.87. 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 (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 23.79%.The company had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.27 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on CATY shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,808. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $6,435,686.65. This 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. Insiders sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341 in the last three months. 4.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.