ASB vs. CATY, FFBC, FULT, HWC, ONB, SSB, WTFC, FNB, WBS, and BCH
Should you be buying Associated Banc stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Associated Banc include Cathay General Bancorp (CATY), First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), Fulton Financial (FULT), Hancock Whitney (HWC), Old National Bancorp (ONB), SouthState (SSB), Wintrust Financial (WTFC), F.N.B. (FNB), Webster Financial (WBS), and Banco De Chile (BCH). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
Associated Banc vs. Its Competitors
Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) and Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.
Cathay General Bancorp has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Associated Banc has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Cathay General Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Associated Banc. Cathay General Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Associated Banc, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $50.17, indicating a potential upside of 3.84%. Associated Banc has a consensus price target of $27.78, indicating a potential upside of 7.02%. Given Associated Banc's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Associated Banc is more favorable than Cathay General Bancorp.
75.0% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of Associated Banc shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Associated Banc shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Cathay General Bancorp has a net margin of 21.44% compared to Associated Banc's net margin of 5.79%. Cathay General Bancorp's return on equity of 10.39% beat Associated Banc's return on equity.
In the previous week, Cathay General Bancorp had 4 more articles in the media than Associated Banc. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Cathay General Bancorp and 4 mentions for Associated Banc. Associated Banc's average media sentiment score of 1.25 beat Cathay General Bancorp's score of 0.40 indicating that Associated Banc is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Cathay General Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Associated Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Cathay General Bancorp pays out 32.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Associated Banc pays out 119.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Associated Banc has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Associated Banc is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
Cathay General Bancorp beats Associated Banc on 12 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 ASB and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE 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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This page (NYSE:ASB) was last updated on 10/5/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff