Royce & Associates LP Lowers Position in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Royce & Associates LP cut its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 35.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,535 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 16,555 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 6,740 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew 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 acquiring an additional 760 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 8,914 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY opened at $57.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.40. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $42.01 and a 12-month high of $58.51.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.27 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 23.79%.Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $243,492.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,435,686.65. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at $150,808. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CATY has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.75.

Cathay General Bancorp 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.