Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $1.85 Million Position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,859 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 821.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 381,764 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,176,000 after purchasing an additional 340,329 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $7,493,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,758,777 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,489,000 after buying an additional 87,847 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 104.3% during 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 period. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 72,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY opened at $46.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Cathay General Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.88 and a twelve month high of $55.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.12.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 34.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp Company 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.