NFJ Investment Group LLC Makes New Investment in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group bought 16,471 shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.02 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.01% of the bank.
• Cathay General Bancorp exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.37 EPS versus the $1.35 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 13.1% year over year to $221.2 million.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $62.25 price target. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, representing a 2.4% annualized yield.

NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,471 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,021,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $604,644,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,007 shares of the bank's stock worth $201,930,000 after purchasing an additional 17,444 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,685,203 shares of the bank's stock worth $81,547,000 after purchasing an additional 105,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $41,140,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 669,527 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,398,000 after purchasing an additional 48,034 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CATY shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $1,266,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $463,112.65. This represents a 73.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,000 shares of company stock worth $1,772,020. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of CATY opened at $62.30 on Friday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $44.57 and a 1-year high of $65.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $62.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Cathay General Bancorp's revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 29.69%.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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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