Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 11.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,021 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 5,785 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned 0.08% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $2,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% during 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. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,961 shares of the bank's stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of CATY traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.99. 355,167 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 371,490. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.93. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.06 and a 1 year high of $55.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 20.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 34.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CATY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.17.

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.