Hsbc Holdings PLC Trims Stake in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC has reduced its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 58.6%, now holding 15,211 shares worth $651,000 after selling 21,538 shares in Q1.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Captrust Financial Advisors and Cetera Investment Advisers, have increased their stakes in Cathay General Bancorp amidst Hsbc's divestment.
• Cathay General Bancorp has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34, with a yield of 2.7%, and a stock buyback program authorized for up to $150 million in outstanding shares.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 58.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,211 shares of the bank's stock after selling 21,538 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8% in 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 raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,747 shares of the bank's stock worth $893,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,599 shares of the bank's stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,023 shares of the bank's stock worth $905,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of CATY opened at $49.91 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.47. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $36.06 and a one year high of $55.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.00.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $197.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.

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