Lazard Asset Management LLC Makes New $1.64 Million Investment in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 32,804 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,636,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 25.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,708,000 after buying an additional 6,740 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,395 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,738,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $316,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 183,090 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,878,000 after buying an additional 8,914 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Director Richard Sun sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total transaction of $316,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $401,385.40. This represents a 44.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 1.1%

CATY stock opened at $63.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 0.86. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $44.23 and a 1 year high of $64.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its 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 return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%.The company had revenue of $221.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.28 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $150,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 4,164,630.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CATY. Zacks Research raised shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens boosted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $49.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.25.

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.