Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Shares Sold by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 159,689 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 21,662 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $7,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CATY. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,708,000 after purchasing an additional 6,740 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 183,090 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,460. This trade 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 1.1%

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $49.50 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.25. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.06 and a 52 week high of $54.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 33.48%.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.