Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 18,827 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 340,483 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,827 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $14,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,194,232 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $158,206,000 after acquiring an additional 176,215 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,758,777 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,489,000 after purchasing an additional 87,847 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,615,000 after purchasing an additional 20,840 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 19.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 256,404 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,013,000 after purchasing an additional 72,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $48.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.12. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $33.88 and a 12-month high of $55.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.21. 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 (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $359.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,873. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total value of $2,114,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 295,252 shares in the company, valued at $15,609,973.24. The trade was a 11.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,500,047. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CATY. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.75.

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.