Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires 484,149 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. dramatically increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp, buying 484,149 additional shares in the fourth quarter and bringing its holding to 484,187 shares worth about $23.4 million.
• Cathay General Bancorp posted solid quarterly results, with earnings of $1.29 per share beating estimates and revenue rising 14.4% year over year to $213.2 million. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $52.
• The bank also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share and a share repurchase authorization, while insiders have been selling shares in recent months, including CEO Chang Liu and SVP May K. Chan.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 1,274,076.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 484,187 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 484,149 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned about 0.71% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $23,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $80,000. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CATY. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of 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 raised their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

CATY stock opened at $56.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.39 and a 200-day moving average of $50.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $41.83 and a 12 month high of $58.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.87.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.27 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Cathay General Bancorp's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $150,808. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $243,492.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,819 shares in the company, valued at $6,435,686.65. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341 over the last three months. 4.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.