Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Shares Sold by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8%, now holding approximately 1.80% of the company's shares, worth about $54.15 million.
• Cathay General Bancorp has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 32.85%.
• The company's stock is currently up 5.1%, with recent price targets set by analysts ranging from $49.71 to $53.00.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,258,459 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,571 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.80% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $54,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CATY. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 worth $127,807,000 after purchasing an additional 108,672 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,577,657 shares of the bank's stock worth $67,887,000 after acquiring an additional 58,215 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 957,773 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,600,000 after acquiring an additional 22,055 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter worth $25,856,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter worth $23,188,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens cut Cathay General Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.71.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CATY traded down $0.31 on Thursday, reaching $49.77. The stock had a trading volume of 49,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 421,552. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 0.97. The business's 50-day moving average price is $47.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.45. 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 12-month low of $36.06 and a 12-month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 company had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.