Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,529,604 shares, a decrease of 31.1% from the March 15th total of 2,221,409 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 791,213 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.4%

CATY traded down $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $53.64. The company had a trading volume of 155,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,108. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.49. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $37.88 and a 52 week high of $54.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Cathay General Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Chang Liu sold 4,836 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $243,492.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,435,686.65. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total value of $50,230.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 9.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,641 shares of the bank’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.2% in the third quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 21,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 36.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 979 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 57,646 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

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.