Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.62 Million Stock Holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 340,483 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,827 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $14,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 150,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 179.5% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 49,688 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 31,912 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 12.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 44,399 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,890,000 after acquiring an additional 4,855 shares in the last quarter. Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,271,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total transaction of $2,114,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 295,252 shares in the company, valued at $15,609,973.24. The trade was a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Dunson K. Cheng sold 12,401 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total value of $555,440.79. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 149,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,699,061.14. The trade was a 7.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,590 shares of company stock worth $3,055,488. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CATY opened at $51.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.26. 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 1-year low of $33.88 and a 1-year high of $54.07.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CATY shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wedbush increased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

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.