Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $1.85 Million Stock Holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,859 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $1,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 821.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 381,764 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,176,000 after purchasing an additional 340,329 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,493,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,758,777 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,489,000 after purchasing an additional 87,847 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 104.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,257,000 after purchasing an additional 74,394 shares during the period. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 39.3% in the third quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 256,404 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,013,000 after purchasing an additional 72,300 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CATY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.80.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $46.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.12. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $33.88 and a 12 month high of $55.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.57.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp Company 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.