Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

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

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,264 shares of the bank's stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the bank's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,599 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,730 shares of the bank's stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CATY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.80.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CATY traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.32. The company had a trading volume of 538,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,700. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.99. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $33.88 and a 1-year high of $55.29. The business's 50 day moving average price is $43.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.47. 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 (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.34%.

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.