LSV Asset Management Cuts Stock Position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management reduced its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ: CATY) by 9.9%, selling 80,400 shares, and now owns about 1.05% of the company, valued at approximately $31.6 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have altered their positions in Cathay General Bancorp, with notable increases in holdings from JPMorgan Chase, which raised its stake by 112.6% during the last quarter.
• Cathay General Bancorp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34, yielding a 3.0% annualized dividend and announced a stock buyback plan worth $150 million, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.

LSV Asset Management reduced its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 735,393 shares of the bank's stock after selling 80,400 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned about 1.05% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $31,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,231,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 112.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 331,862 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,800,000 after acquiring an additional 175,737 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $4,587,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,519,442 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,341,000 after purchasing an additional 85,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 3,878.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 87,050 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,746,000 after buying an additional 84,862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of CATY stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $44.78. The stock had a trading volume of 268,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,350. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $36.06 and a one year high of $55.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $45.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.10. The business had revenue of $196.61 million during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CATY shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stephens downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price target on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $180,000. This represents a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

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.