Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Stock Holdings Lifted by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 32.7%, owning about 47,172 shares valued at $2,030,000 as of its most recent filing.
• Several analysts have set a consensus price target of $49.71 for Cathay General Bancorp, with ratings ranging from "buy" to "hold."
• Cathay General Bancorp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.8%, and launched a stock repurchase plan worth $150 million.

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 32.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,172 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 11,614 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned 0.07% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $2,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 174.8% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,201 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 36.8% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the bank's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter worth $214,000. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of CATY traded down $1.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,795,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 353,775. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $48.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $36.06 and a 12-month high of $55.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.00.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 business had revenue of $196.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CATY. Wall Street Zen raised Cathay General Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Stephens downgraded Cathay General Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.17.

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.