Comerica Bank Sells 8,859 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.5%, now owning 36,635 shares valued at approximately $1.58 million.
• Cathay General Bancorp reported earnings of $1.10 per share for the last quarter, meeting analysts' expectations, while revenue increased 10.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, which corresponds to an annual dividend yield of 2.7%.

Comerica Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 19.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,635 shares of the bank's stock after selling 8,859 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.05% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,486 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,770 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,747 shares of the bank's stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.9% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,599 shares of the bank's stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.1% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,023 shares of the bank's stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CATY shares. Stephens downgraded Cathay General Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 4th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price target on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cathay General Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.71.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ CATY traded down $0.74 on Friday, hitting $49.64. 426,198 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 321,169. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $47.76 and a 200-day moving average of $44.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.06 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.00.

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

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

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.