Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires Shares of 47,603 Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 47,603 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,048,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned about 0.07% of Cathay General Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $331,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 282,504 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,156,000 after acquiring an additional 20,500 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926 shares in the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,789,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,457 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,252,000 after purchasing an additional 8,860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $32,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,000. This represents a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CATY shares. 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.17.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

CATY stock traded down $0.53 on Friday, reaching $48.20. 434,555 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 376,516. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $36.06 and a 12 month high of $55.29. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $45.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.93.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 20.55%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.34%.

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.