Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stake Raised by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,262,970 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 208,599 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.73% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $47,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,254,816 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $367,917,000 after purchasing an additional 196,146 shares during the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $2,014,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $946,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 504.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,568 shares of the bank’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 20,502 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $982,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY opened at $42.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.72. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $32.08 and a 52 week high of $45.88.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.02). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.08% and a return on equity of 11.96%. The company had revenue of $178.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CATY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $555,440.79. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 149,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,699,061.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kim R. Bingham sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.89, for a total value of $269,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,841.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total value of $555,440.79. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 149,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,699,061.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,728,581. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.