Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 6,510 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 3.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 165,747 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,510 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $7,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,230,722 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $201,426,000 after buying an additional 12,684 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% during the first 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. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.8% during the first 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. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,268,030 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,371,000 after buying an additional 6,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 957,773 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,600,000 after purchasing an additional 22,055 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $47.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.34. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $36.06 and a 12-month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.10. The business had revenue of $196.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.04 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 21.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CATY shares. 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 research note 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 research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens cut Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.71.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.