Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 18,241 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,068,002 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,241 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 5.98% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $195,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CATY. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 9.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,641 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.9% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,965 shares of the bank’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% during the third quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 21,145 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,703 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $50,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,460. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CATY opened at $48.48 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12-month low of $36.06 and a 12-month high of $54.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 0.86.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 22.76%.The company had revenue of $222.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

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

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.