Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 22,300 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 186.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,271 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,300 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.05% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $1,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 0.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,007 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $201,930,000 after purchasing an additional 17,444 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,685,203 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,547,000 after purchasing an additional 105,484 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $41,140,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 669,527 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,398,000 after purchasing an additional 48,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 580,038 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,068,000 after buying an additional 67,898 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $63.70 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $61.57 and its 200 day moving average is $55.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44 and a beta of 0.86. Cathay General Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.57 and a fifty-two week high of $64.89.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 24.66% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $150,000.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 29.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other news, Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $1,266,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $463,112.65. This represents a 73.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.25.

Cathay General Bancorp Company 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.