Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Vice Chairman Peter Wu Sells 20,000 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares on May 5 at an average $57.33 for proceeds of $1,146,600, reducing his stake by 6.77% to 275,252 shares (≈$15.78M).
• Quarterly beat: Cathay reported $1.29 EPS vs. $1.19 expected and $213.2M revenue (up 14.4% YoY), and analysts forecast about 5.4 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Capital returns: The board authorized a stock buyback program and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.38 (annualized $1.52, ~2.7% yield); note the article’s buyback dollar figure appears erroneous.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 275,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY traded down $0.33 on Thursday, hitting $56.99. 408,301 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 457,113. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $41.83 and a 12 month high of $58.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.87. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $51.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.27 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 23.79%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. 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. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,030 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,708,000 after buying an additional 6,740 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.

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