Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 36,300 Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 36,300 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,618,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $3,116,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 178,450 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,996,000 after purchasing an additional 24,317 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 970,537 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,257,000 after purchasing an additional 3,385 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,654,350 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,505,000 after purchasing an additional 75,749 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 12.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 738,787 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,680,000 after acquiring an additional 83,370 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.20.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock traded up $1.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.00. The company had a trading volume of 317,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,654. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $27.24 and a fifty-two week high of $45.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.78.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.15. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 27.02% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The firm had revenue of $205.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.95 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Anthony M. Tang sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total value of $304,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 204,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,885,525. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.