Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,088 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the bank’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 96.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,411 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their target price 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. Stephens reduced their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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 equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.80.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $46.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.19 and a 200 day moving average of $46.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.12. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $33.88 and a 12 month high of $55.29. 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 (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, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp 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.