Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 28,021 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon reduced its Cathay General Bancorp stake by 4.2% in the first quarter, selling 28,021 shares and retaining 641,506 shares valued at approximately $32 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.01% of CATY.
• Cathay General Bancorp reported quarterly EPS of $1.37, exceeding the $1.35 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 13.1% year over year to $221.2 million. The stock opened at $62.92, near its 52-week high of $63.91.
• The bank maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, equal to a 2.4% annualized yield, and recently authorized a stock-repurchase program. Analysts remain mixed, with the stock carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and a $60.75 average price target.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 641,506 shares of the bank's stock after selling 28,021 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.96% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $31,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $31,248.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,808. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 275,252 shares in the company, valued at $15,780,197.16. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 4.53% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:CATY opened at $62.92 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $60.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.76. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $43.65 and a 52-week high of $63.91.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.28 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 29.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CATY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Cathay General Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stephens raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.75.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CATY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.