Ascentis Independent Advisors Makes New $1.54 Million Investment in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 30,815 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,536,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CATY. Zacks Research raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 275,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $31,248.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,808. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 0.4%

CATY stock opened at $62.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $43.65 and a 52 week high of $63.72.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.26 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Cathay General Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.