Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Shares Sold by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC reduced its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 41.1%, implying a significant divestiture of shares during the second quarter.
• Cathay General Bancorp reported earnings of $1.10 per share for the latest quarter, matching analyst expectations, while also showing a 10.1% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The bank announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34, representing an annual yield of 2.8%, with a dividend payout ratio of 32.85%.

Vest Financial LLC decreased its position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 41.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,819 shares of the bank's stock after selling 15,915 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,970,173 shares of the bank's stock valued at $127,807,000 after buying an additional 108,672 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,577,657 shares of the bank's stock valued at $67,887,000 after acquiring an additional 58,215 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $25,856,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $23,188,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,457 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,252,000 after buying an additional 8,860 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ CATY opened at $48.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 0.94. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $36.06 and a 52-week high of $55.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.41. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.10. The firm had revenue of $196.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CATY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stephens downgraded 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 note on Monday, August 4th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.17.

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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