Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 41,435 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 31,519 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,194,232 shares of the bank’s stock worth $158,206,000 after acquiring an additional 176,215 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 19.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,262,970 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,639,000 after purchasing an additional 208,599 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 736,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,789,000 after buying an additional 28,968 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 181,928 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,979,000 after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 7.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 160,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,044,000 after buying an additional 11,324 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush upped their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $45.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $33.88 and a fifty-two week high of $47.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.67 and a 200-day moving average of $40.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.11.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $359.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 11.30%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $555,440.79. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 149,566 shares in the company, valued at $6,699,061.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total value of $555,440.79. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 149,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,699,061.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $42,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,873. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,590 shares of company stock worth $940,688. Insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.