Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Position Raised by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,970,173 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,672 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $127,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,770 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,747 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.9% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $45.48 on Tuesday. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.06 and a fifty-two week high of $55.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.97.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 21.44%. The company had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CATY shares. Stephens lowered Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.71.

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.