Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

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American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,360,847 shares of the bank's stock after selling 110,219 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.94% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $58,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CATY. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 174.8% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,201 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stephens lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, August 4th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.71.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of CATY opened at $47.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $46.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $36.06 and a twelve month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The company had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

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

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.

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