Vanguard Group Inc. Has $363.73 Million Stake in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,576,062 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 223,977 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.97% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $363,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,348,000. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,077,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 325.6% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 202,577 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,223,000 after buying an additional 154,974 shares in the last quarter. HRT Financial LP acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $3,987,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $3,175,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of CATY stock opened at $52.42 on Friday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.06 and a 1 year high of $54.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.25 and its 200-day moving average is $49.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.87.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.13. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $222.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. This is an increase from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $50,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,460. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CATY. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.