GW&K Investment Management LLC Sells 21,202 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

GW&K Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 683,083 shares of the bank's stock after selling 21,202 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned about 0.98% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $29,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,486 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,770 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,513,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,747 shares of the bank's stock valued at $893,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,961 shares of the bank's stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CATY. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $32,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,000. This represents a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 0.3%

Cathay General Bancorp stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.84. The stock had a trading volume of 93,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,760. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.06 and a fifty-two week high of $55.29. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $45.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

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

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.