Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 14,121 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 310,246 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 14,121 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.44% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $14,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,961 shares of the bank's stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,166 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,674,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,599 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,789 shares of the bank's stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on CATY shares. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.17.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock traded up $1.20 on Tuesday, reaching $44.05. 244,824 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 359,729. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $34.75 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.74 and a 200 day moving average of $45.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. The business had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.34%.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $32,805.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Company 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.