GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 42.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,188 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 156,125 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,706,000 after purchasing an additional 9,724 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,728 shares of the bank’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 9,945 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $73,615,000 after purchasing an additional 20,840 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 104.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,257,000 after buying an additional 74,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dean Investment Associates LLC raised its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 52,366 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 10,942 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 3.2 %

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $45.58 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.87. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 1.13. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $33.88 and a 52-week high of $55.29. 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 released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. 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 2.98%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

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

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.