Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 36.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,581 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,550 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 332.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 19,458 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,236 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,509,000 after acquiring an additional 7,837 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,650 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,615,000 after acquiring an additional 20,840 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,758,777 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,489,000 after acquiring an additional 87,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 104.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,257,000 after acquiring an additional 74,394 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CATY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens lowered their price target 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. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.80.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $43.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.67. 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 has a 12 month low of $33.88 and a 12 month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. 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.