New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $5.07 Million Stake in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its Cathay General Bancorp stake by 15.6% in the first quarter, leaving it with 101,585 shares worth about $5.07 million.
• Cathay General Bancorp reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.29 beating estimates and revenue rising 14.4% year over year to $213.2 million.
• The bank announced a stock repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $51.75.

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,585 shares of the bank's stock after selling 18,715 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.15% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $5,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $80,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 275,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $31,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,808. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 1.7%

CATY stock opened at $61.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.63. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $43.65 and a 52-week high of $63.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 23.79%.The business had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 31.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.75.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides a full suite of financial services to commercial, institutional and retail clients. As a community-focused institution, the company emphasizes relationship banking and tailored solutions for businesses and individuals.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.

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