Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stock Position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,708 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 29,475 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $3,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 25.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 36,414 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,378,000 after buying an additional 7,430 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 25.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,589 shares of the bank’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 3,165 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 62,586 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,366,000 after acquiring an additional 4,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,085 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush upped their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $42,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,873. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 7,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.05, for a total value of $342,947.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 347,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,371,659.15. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,189 shares of company stock worth $2,500,047. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $53.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 1.10. 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 $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 20.57%. The business had revenue of $359.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.26%.

Cathay General Bancorp Profile

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.