Amundi Trims Holdings in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

• Amundi has reduced its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 21.3%, selling 8,200 shares and now holding 30,222 shares valued at approximately $1.3 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on the stock, with two giving it a "buy" rating, four a "hold" rating, and one a "sell" rating, with a consensus target price of $49.71.
• Cathay General Bancorp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, translating to an annual yield of 2.8% based on a payout ratio of 32.85%.

Amundi lowered its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 21.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,222 shares of the bank's stock after selling 8,200 shares during the quarter. Amundi's holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CATY. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 174.8% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,201 shares of the bank's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the bank's stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $214,000. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CATY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stephens cut Cathay General Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.71.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 3.5%

NASDAQ CATY traded up $1.69 during trading on Thursday, hitting $50.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 413,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 344,576. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $48.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.78. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.06 and a fifty-two week high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.10. The business had revenue of $196.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 21.44%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.85%.

Cathay General Bancorp Profile

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.