American Century Companies Inc. Sells 110,219 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

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American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,360,847 shares of the bank's stock after selling 110,219 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.94% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $58,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 15,176 shares of the bank's stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 38,460 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,655,000 after purchasing an additional 3,105 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 259,783 shares of the bank's stock worth $11,178,000 after purchasing an additional 82,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $23,188,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 5.1%

NASDAQ:CATY traded up $2.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.15. 501,043 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,854. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.97. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.06 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The firm's 50 day moving average is $46.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday. Stephens downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, August 4th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.71.

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.