Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Shares Purchased by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 54,489 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,069 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $2,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $512,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $318,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $524,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter worth $7,493,000. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.80.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $43.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.67. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $33.88 and a 12-month high of $55.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.09.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.