Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 191.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,558 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,356 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,730 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.80.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

CATY opened at $43.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.67. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $33.88 and a 12-month high of $55.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick 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 Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

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.