Xponance Inc. Makes New Investment in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,023 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $512,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $524,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 135,681 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,827,000 after purchasing an additional 12,132 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 19,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 28.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 30,627 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 6,838 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $42.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.70.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CATY shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.80.

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.