Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 49.3%, selling 136,684 shares and leaving it with 140,621 shares worth approximately $6.05 million.
• Despite the sale, institutional investors hold 75.01% of Cathay General Bancorp's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the bank.
• Cathay General Bancorp recently announced a $150 million stock buyback plan and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, with a yield of 2.7%.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 49.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,621 shares of the bank's stock after selling 136,684 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $6,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,486 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,118,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8% in the 4th 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% in the 1st 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. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,599 shares of the bank's stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,023 shares of the bank's stock valued at $905,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ CATY traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $49.91. The stock had a trading volume of 317,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 353,306. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.00. 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 has a 12-month low of $36.06 and a 12-month high of $55.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.47.

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 (EPS) 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.