Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 9,188 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 64.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,486 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 9,188 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CATY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 150,601 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,230,000 after buying an additional 42,868 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 96.7% in the 3rd quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 81,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,927,000 after buying an additional 40,214 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 389.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 58,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 46,932 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 8.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 305,043 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,645,000 after acquiring an additional 24,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 252.7% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 28,518 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 20,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 2.2%

CATY opened at $56.03 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.12 and its 200-day moving average is $50.00. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $41.14 and a 1-year high of $56.63. 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 company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.82.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.27 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This is an increase from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 31.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $243,492.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,435,686.65. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,808. The trade was a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CATY shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.00.

Cathay General Bancorp 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.