Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Shares Sold by NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC

Key Points

• NorthCrest Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 10.1%, now holding 49,705 shares valued at approximately $2.38 million.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Cathay General Bancorp, with DA Davidson raising it to $51.00 while others like Stephens lowered their ratings.
• The company announced a $150 million share buyback program, indicating that its board believes the stock is undervalued, alongside a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share.

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lessened its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,705 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,573 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC owned about 0.07% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $2,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,747 shares of the bank's stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.9% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,599 shares of the bank's stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.1% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,023 shares of the bank's stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 15,176 shares of the bank's stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,293 shares of the bank's stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CATY. 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, August 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.17.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CATY traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $48.94. 338,088 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 418,500. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.84. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.06 and a 1 year high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 21.44%.The firm had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

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

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.