Waverly Advisors LLC Invests $6.38 Million in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 127,850 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $6,375,000. Waverly Advisors LLC owned about 0.19% of Cathay General Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CATY. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 186.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 34,271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,709,000 after acquiring an additional 22,300 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 60.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 35,498 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 13,353 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 34,429 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 45.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 21,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 6,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 127,143 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,339,000 after purchasing an additional 16,003 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.25.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 275,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CATY opened at $63.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.33 and its 200-day moving average is $54.95. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $43.65 and a 1-year high of $63.91.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%.The company had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 29.69%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp 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.