Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,254,816 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 196,146 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.36% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $367,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CATY. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 12.2% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 33,111 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 3,597 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $369,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 34.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 423,914 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,735,000 after buying an additional 107,888 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 11.5% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 9,198 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,116,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

CATY opened at $37.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.37 and a 200 day moving average of $38.97. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $31.47 and a fifty-two week high of $45.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $339.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.85 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.41% and a return on equity of 13.02%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CATY. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Profile

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.