Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Decreases Position in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lessened its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 60.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,296 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,224 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CATY. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 44,179 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 9,403 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,575 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $396,000. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,789 shares of the bank’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $1,587,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $50.15 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.40. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $36.06 and a one year high of $55.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.97.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10. The business had revenue of $196.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.04 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 21.44% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CATY shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.71.

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.