Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Increases Stake in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 150.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,419 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,091 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $2,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $41,140,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1,274,076.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 484,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,430,000 after purchasing an additional 484,149 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 375.1% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 420,509 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,189,000 after purchasing an additional 331,997 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,426,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,355,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CATY. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP May K. Chan sold 558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $31,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,808. This trade represents a 17.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 20,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $1,146,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 275,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,780,197.16. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.9%

CATY opened at $60.30 on Thursday. 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $58.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $213.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.26 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 23.79% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Company 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.