156,248 Shares in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 156,248 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $9,686,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $60.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $44.57 and a 12-month high of $65.25.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.28 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CATY has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson upped 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. Stephens raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.25.

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.