The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

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

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CATY. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 339.2% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 75,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,693,000 after purchasing an additional 58,470 shares during the period. Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $563,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $989,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,052,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $62.00 on Thursday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $44.57 and a 52-week high of $65.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.63 and a 200 day moving average of $57.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.85.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 29.69%.

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.