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WaFd (WAFD) Competitors

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$31.21 +0.32 (+1.04%)
Closing price 01:23 PM Eastern
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$31.21 0.00 (0.00%)
As of 04:20 PM Eastern
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WAFD vs. CATY, FFBC, FULT, HWC, PPBI, SFNC, STBA, UBSI, FNB, and MTG

Should you be buying WaFd stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of WaFd include Cathay General Bancorp (CATY), First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), Fulton Financial (FULT), Hancock Whitney (HWC), Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI), Simmons First National (SFNC), S&T Bancorp (STBA), United Bankshares (UBSI), F.N.B. (FNB), and MGIC Investment (MTG). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.

WaFd vs. Its Competitors

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

In the previous week, WaFd had 3 more articles in the media than Cathay General Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for WaFd and 9 mentions for Cathay General Bancorp. Cathay General Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.95 beat WaFd's score of -0.29 indicating that Cathay General Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

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

Cathay General Bancorp has a net margin of 20.55% compared to WaFd's net margin of 15.13%. Cathay General Bancorp's return on equity of 10.23% beat WaFd's return on equity.

Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
Cathay General Bancorp20.55% 10.23% 1.25%
WaFd 15.13%8.74%0.84%

Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $50.17, indicating a potential upside of 4.55%. WaFd has a consensus price target of $30.50, indicating a potential downside of 2.27%. Given Cathay General Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cathay General Bancorp is more favorable than WaFd.

Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
Cathay General Bancorp
1 Sell rating(s)
2 Hold rating(s)
3 Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.33
WaFd
0 Sell rating(s)
4 Hold rating(s)
0 Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.00

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

CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings Ratio
Cathay General Bancorp$1.39B2.42$285.98M$3.9612.12
WaFd$1.43B1.75$200.04M$2.6511.78

Cathay General Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. WaFd pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Cathay General Bancorp pays out 34.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WaFd pays out 40.8% 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.

Cathay General Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WaFd has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

75.0% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.7% of WaFd shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of WaFd shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Cathay General Bancorp beats WaFd on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.

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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time

This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding WAFD and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
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Media Sentiment Over Time

This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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WAFD vs. The Competition

MetricWaFdBANKS IndustryFinance SectorNASDAQ Exchange
Market Cap$2.48B$1.91B$12.04B$8.95B
Dividend Yield3.50%3.32%5.57%4.08%
P/E Ratio11.7811.7720.0720.04
Price / Sales1.752.4325.61118.60
Price / Cash6.7211.6621.5057.47
Price / Book0.941.322.285.67
Net Income$200.04M$198.60M$1.00B$248.47M
7 Day Performance5.87%5.82%2.31%2.90%
1 Month Performance8.22%8.78%4.37%5.75%
1 Year Performance10.67%27.08%541.13%21.36%

WaFd Competitors List

CompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)
WAFD
WaFd
4.0395 of 5 stars
$31.21
+1.0%
$30.50
-2.3%
+8.0%$2.48B$1.43B11.782,208Analyst Revision
CATY
Cathay General Bancorp
3.9201 of 5 stars
$45.53
-0.3%
$50.17
+10.2%
+28.0%$3.19B$742.38M11.501,266News Coverage
Analyst Revision
FFBC
First Financial Bancorp.
4.5865 of 5 stars
$24.26
-0.4%
$28.75
+18.5%
+14.8%$2.32B$840.71M10.072,090News Coverage
FULT
Fulton Financial
3.5187 of 5 stars
$18.04
-0.3%
$20.30
+12.5%
+12.4%$3.28B$1.86B10.613,400News Coverage
Analyst Revision
HWC
Hancock Whitney
4.558 of 5 stars
$57.40
-0.4%
$61.25
+6.7%
+27.4%$4.92B$2.06B10.593,476Analyst Revision
PPBI
Pacific Premier Bancorp
3.7132 of 5 stars
$21.09
+0.1%
$27.25
+29.2%
-0.8%$2.05B$905.41M13.881,325Analyst Revision
SFNC
Simmons First National
4.2894 of 5 stars
$18.96
+0.2%
$22.33
+17.8%
+13.7%$2.39B$1.46B16.342,946Positive News
Analyst Revision
STBA
S&T Bancorp
3.3929 of 5 stars
$37.82
-0.5%
$41.67
+10.2%
+17.7%$1.45B$564.96M10.901,206Analyst Revision
UBSI
United Bankshares
3.2117 of 5 stars
$36.43
flat
$40.63
+11.5%
+17.0%$5.18B$1.07B13.542,553News Coverage
Positive News
Analyst Revision
FNB
F.N.B.
4.2016 of 5 stars
$14.59
+0.3%
$17.57
+20.4%
+11.0%$5.25B$1.60B11.584,280
MTG
MGIC Investment
3.9334 of 5 stars
$27.83
+0.6%
$26.63
-4.3%
+27.7%$6.61B$1.21B9.25680Positive News

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This page (NASDAQ:WAFD) was last updated on 7/3/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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