New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 5,407 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,853 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,407 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.17% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $5,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,231,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 112.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 331,862 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,800,000 after purchasing an additional 175,737 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,587,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,519,442 shares of the bank's stock worth $72,341,000 after purchasing an additional 85,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 3,878.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 87,050 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,746,000 after purchasing an additional 84,862 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of CATY traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $48.47. The stock had a trading volume of 331,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,915. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.06 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.28 and a 200 day moving average of $44.47. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 0.93.

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. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The firm had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 34.34%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CATY. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,000. This represents a 15.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

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.