Access Investment Management LLC Makes New $951,000 Investment in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 20,890 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $951,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,970,173 shares of the bank’s stock worth $127,807,000 after purchasing an additional 108,672 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,577,657 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,887,000 after purchasing an additional 58,215 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,856,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $23,188,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,252,000 after acquiring an additional 8,860 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY stock opened at $45.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $48.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.13. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $36.06 and a 52-week high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.02). Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 22.26%.The firm had revenue of $210.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.41%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.83, for a total transaction of $46,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $140,490. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 5,165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.24, for a total value of $238,829.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,016,022.72. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CATY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Stephens cut shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.60.

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.