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

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. dramatically increased its Cathay General Bancorp stake in Q4, buying 484,149 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 484,187 shares, or about 0.71% of the bank.
• Cathay General Bancorp’s latest results beat expectations, with quarterly EPS of $1.29 versus the $1.19 consensus and revenue of $213.2 million, up 14.4% year over year.
• The bank also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share and maintained a buyback authorization, while analysts currently have an overall Hold rating with a consensus price target of $51.75.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 1,274,076.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 484,187 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 484,149 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned approximately 0.71% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $23,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank's stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 6,740 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 183,090 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,878,000 after acquiring an additional 8,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $57.66 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.97 and a 200-day moving average of $51.43. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $42.01 and a 1 year high of $58.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.34%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the 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 owned 127,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,435,686.65. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction 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 represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

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