William Blair Investment Management LLC Makes New $26.05 Million Investment in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management acquired 420,258 shares of Cathay General Bancorp, worth approximately $26.05 million, giving it a 0.63% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 75.01% of the company.
• Cathay General Bancorp beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.37 in EPS versus a $1.35 consensus estimate and $221.2 million in revenue, up 13.1% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with the stock carrying an average “Hold” rating and a $62.25 price target. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, representing a 2.4% annualized yield.

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 420,258 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $26,052,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.63% of Cathay General Bancorp as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $1,266,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $463,112.65. The trade was a 73.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 28,000 shares of company stock worth $1,772,020 over the last three months. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CATY opened at $62.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $44.57 and a 12-month high of $65.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.56.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 29.69%.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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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