Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Shares Acquired by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its Cathay General Bancorp stake by 150.6% in the first quarter, ending with 43,419 shares worth about $2.17 million.
• Cathay General Bancorp reported solid first-quarter results, with EPS of $1.29 beating estimates and revenue rising 14.4% year over year to $213.2 million.
• The bank also returned capital to shareholders through a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share and an approved stock buyback plan, while analysts currently see the stock as a Hold with a $51.75 consensus price target.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 150.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,419 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 26,091 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd owned 0.06% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $2,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 39.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 150,601 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,230,000 after purchasing an additional 42,868 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1,274,076.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 484,187 shares of the bank's stock valued at $23,430,000 after purchasing an additional 484,149 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,505,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $5,550,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $41,140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on CATY shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $60.30 on Thursday. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $43.65 and a twelve month high of $63.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 23.79%.The firm had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Cathay General Bancorp's revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,808. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 275,252 shares of the company's stock, 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. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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