Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 88,395 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,743 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $4,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CATY stock opened at $37.32 on Monday. 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 twelve month low of $33.88 and a twelve month high of $55.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.47. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.99.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share 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 predict 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 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 yield of 3.64%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens dropped 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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 decreased their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.80.

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.