Insider Selling: Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) SVP Sells 558 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• SVP May Chan sold 558 shares at an average price of $56 for a total of $31,248, reducing her position by 17.16% to 2,693 shares, as disclosed in an SEC filing.
• Cathay beat expectations with quarterly EPS of $1.29 versus $1.19 expected and revenue of $213.2M (up 14.4% YoY), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.38 (annualized $1.52, ~2.8% yield).
• The board announced a share buyback plan; the stock traded down 1.7% to $54.80 on above-average volume and the consensus analyst rating is "Hold" with a $52 target.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) SVP May Chan sold 558 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at $150,808. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of CATY traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $54.80. 472,770 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 453,801. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.82. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $40.96 and a 12-month high of $56.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $51.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.96.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.27 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The business's revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Cathay General Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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