Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Shares Sold by GW&K Investment Management LLC

GW&K Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 612,930 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 16,834 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $29,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 31.9% in the third quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 42,779 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 10,357 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 81,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,930,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $721,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 70,089 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,365,000 after buying an additional 11,682 shares during the period. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CATY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $50,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,460. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $49.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.06 and a 1-year high of $54.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.38.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $222.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.76 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 10.89%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.48%.

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.