GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 84,862 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 3,878.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,050 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 84,862 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.12% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $3,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $204,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CATY. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.17.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CATY traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.28. 563,899 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 363,161. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.06. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $35.14 and a 1 year high of $55.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase 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.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

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 stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $180,000. This represents a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

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.