Wells Fargo & Company MN Raises Stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 27.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,179 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 9,403 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.06% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $2,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,861,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $136,236,000 after acquiring an additional 102,724 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,471,066 shares of the bank's stock valued at $70,037,000 after buying an additional 72,532 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,116,419 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,153,000 after acquiring an additional 31,472 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $36,231,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 821.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 381,764 shares of the bank's stock worth $18,176,000 after acquiring an additional 340,329 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CATY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.60.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ CATY traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $41.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,098. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $42.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.23. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $34.46 and a twelve month high of $55.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 0.99.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is 34.34%.

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.