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

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,576,062 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 223,977 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $363,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 5,438.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter worth $112,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $50,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CATY shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $52.42 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.30. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.87. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $36.06 and a 12 month high of $54.99.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.13. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 22.76%.The company had revenue of $222.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.48%.

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.