Associated Banc (ASB) Competitors

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

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, CATY or ASB?

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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cathay General Bancorp	$760.46M	4.53	$285.98M	$4.14	12.03
Associated Banc	$1.09B	4.10	$123.14M	$0.77	35.11

Is CATY or ASB more profitable?

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.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cathay General Bancorp	21.44%	10.39%	1.27%
Associated Banc	5.79%	8.86%	0.91%

Is CATY or ASB a better dividend stock?

Cathay General Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Associated Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. 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.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in CATY or ASB?

75.0% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of Associated Banc shares are held by institutional investors. 4.9% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Associated Banc shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer CATY or ASB?

In the previous week, Associated Banc had 3 more articles in the media than Cathay General Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Associated Banc and 7 mentions for Cathay General Bancorp. Associated Banc's average media sentiment score of 1.52 beat Cathay General Bancorp's score of 1.34 indicating that Associated Banc is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cathay General Bancorp	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Associated Banc	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts recommend CATY or ASB?

Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $49.71, indicating a potential downside of 0.19%. Associated Banc has a consensus price target of $27.78, indicating a potential upside of 2.74%. Given Associated Banc's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Associated Banc is more favorable than Cathay General Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cathay General Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14
Associated Banc	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.22

Which has more risk and volatility, CATY or ASB?

Cathay General Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Associated Banc has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cathay General Bancorp and Associated Banc tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.