32,549 Shares in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 32,549 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CATY. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 339.2% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 75,706 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,693,000 after buying an additional 58,470 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $563,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $989,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $26,052,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of CATY opened at $62.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.85. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $44.57 and a 12-month high of $65.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on CATY shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Stephens boosted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research cut Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $1,266,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $463,112.65. The trade was a 73.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $99,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,554.14. The trade was a 40.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 30,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,934,052 in the last ninety days. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.