Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys Shares of 15,015 Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 15,015 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5,438.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 101.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 781 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $43,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of CATY opened at $48.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.06 and a 1 year high of $54.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.13. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 22.76% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $222.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. This is an increase from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $50,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,460. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Profile

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides a full suite of financial services to commercial, institutional and retail clients. As a community-focused institution, the company emphasizes relationship banking and tailored solutions for businesses and individuals.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.