Parallel Advisors LLC Sells 227 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Parallel Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 7.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,863 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,970,173 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $127,807,000 after buying an additional 108,672 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,577,657 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,887,000 after buying an additional 58,215 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $25,856,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $23,188,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,457 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,252,000 after buying an additional 8,860 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CATY stock opened at $48.50 on Wednesday. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $36.06 and a one year high of $55.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $48.10 and its 200 day moving average is $44.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.10. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The company had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Cathay General Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 32.85%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens lowered shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, August 4th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.17.

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.