AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,804 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,429 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $40,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 168.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,265 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 12,039.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,977 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 4,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 3.4 %

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $44.06 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.23. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $32.08 and a one year high of $45.88.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $178.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.19 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 22.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.69%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $903,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 355,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,053,837.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $903,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 355,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,053,837.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kim R. Bingham sold 6,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.89, for a total value of $269,340.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,841.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,401 shares of company stock worth $1,728,581 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CATY has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Company 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.