Cathay General Bancorp $CATY Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 11.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,325 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CATY. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.9% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,965 shares of the bank’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,156 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,464,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 21,105 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 16.1% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,769 shares of the bank’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens cut Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.60.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ CATY opened at $48.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $36.06 and a one year high of $52.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.97.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $210.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.71 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 10.60%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 31.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.24, for a total value of $647,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 155,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,211,128. This trade represents a 8.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 5,165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.24, for a total transaction of $238,829.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,016,022.72. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,755 shares of company stock valued at $1,820,148. Company insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Profile

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.