Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 29,800 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 39.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 150,601 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,230,000 after purchasing an additional 42,868 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1,274,076.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 484,187 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,430,000 after purchasing an additional 484,149 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,505,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,550,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $41,140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $62.31 on Friday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $43.65 and a 52 week high of $63.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.39. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.26 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on 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. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.75.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,808. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $1,146,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 275,252 shares in the company, valued at $15,780,197.16. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,341. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.