Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $396,000 in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,326 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,264 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% during 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 last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $37.66 on Wednesday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $33.88 and a 1-year high of $55.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.57.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.