SummerHaven Investment Management LLC Purchases 303 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 1.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,747 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $86,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $32,805.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $180,000. This represents a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $44.78 on Thursday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $34.75 and a 12 month high of $55.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.24.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.17 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CATY shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $51.00 target price 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 three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.17.

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.