Barclays PLC Grows Stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 104.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 145,690 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 74,394 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.20% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $6,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP increased its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 76.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 765 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the bank's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $201,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:CATY traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,259,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 332,117. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $33.88 and a one year high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 11.30%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.26%.

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at $157,873. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 7,289 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.05, for a total value of $342,947.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 347,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,371,659.15. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,500,047 over the last three months. 4.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Cathay General Bancorp from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.75.

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.