Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,326 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 42.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.60.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.1 %

CATY opened at $42.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $34.75 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.91.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The business had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. 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.