Squarepoint Ops LLC Takes Position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,634 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $982,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,730 shares of the bank's stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price target on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.29. The company had a trading volume of 114,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,460. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $34.75 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $41.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. The business had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.34%.

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.