WaFd (WAFD) Competitors

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) and Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Do analysts recommend WAFD or CATY?

WaFd currently has a consensus price target of $32.25, suggesting a potential upside of 5.20%. Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus price target of $49.71, suggesting a potential upside of 4.97%. Given WaFd's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WaFd is more favorable than Cathay General Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WaFd	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Cathay General Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14

Which has more risk and volatility, WAFD or CATY?

WaFd has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cathay General Bancorp has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Is WAFD or CATY a better dividend stock?

WaFd pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Cathay General Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. WaFd pays out 41.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cathay General Bancorp pays out 32.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. WaFd has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. WaFd is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is WAFD or CATY more profitable?

Cathay General Bancorp has a net margin of 21.44% compared to WaFd's net margin of 15.57%. Cathay General Bancorp's return on equity of 10.39% beat WaFd's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WaFd	15.57%	8.57%	0.85%
Cathay General Bancorp	21.44%	10.39%	1.27%

Does the media prefer WAFD or CATY?

In the previous week, Cathay General Bancorp had 4 more articles in the media than WaFd. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Cathay General Bancorp and 6 mentions for WaFd. WaFd's average media sentiment score of 1.19 beat Cathay General Bancorp's score of 0.84 indicating that WaFd is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
WaFd	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cathay General Bancorp	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of WAFD or CATY?

83.7% of WaFd shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of WaFd shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, WAFD or CATY?

Cathay General Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than WaFd. Cathay General Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WaFd, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WaFd	$1.43B	1.69	$200.04M	$2.63	11.66
Cathay General Bancorp	$1.39B	2.35	$285.98M	$4.14	11.44

Summary

Cathay General Bancorp beats WaFd on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.