Walker & Dunlop (WD) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend CATY or WD?

Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $49.71, indicating a potential upside of 1.19%. Walker & Dunlop has a consensus target price of $92.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.45%. Given Walker & Dunlop's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Walker & Dunlop 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
Walker & Dunlop	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more volatility & risk, CATY or WD?

Cathay General Bancorp has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Walker & Dunlop has a beta of 1.58, suggesting that its stock price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CATY or WD more profitable?

Cathay General Bancorp has a net margin of 21.44% compared to Walker & Dunlop's net margin of 9.27%. Cathay General Bancorp's return on equity of 10.39% beat Walker & Dunlop's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cathay General Bancorp	21.44%	10.39%	1.27%
Walker & Dunlop	9.27%	8.81%	3.40%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in CATY or WD?

75.0% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.0% of Walker & Dunlop shares are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Walker & Dunlop shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is CATY or WD a better dividend stock?

Cathay General Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Walker & Dunlop pays an annual dividend of $2.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Cathay General Bancorp pays out 32.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Walker & Dunlop pays out 82.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Walker & Dunlop has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Walker & Dunlop is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, CATY or WD?

Cathay General Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Walker & Dunlop. Cathay General Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Walker & Dunlop, 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	$1.39B	2.44	$285.98M	$4.14	11.87
Walker & Dunlop	$1.13B	2.59	$108.17M	$3.24	26.57

Does the media prefer CATY or WD?

In the previous week, Walker & Dunlop had 3 more articles in the media than Cathay General Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Walker & Dunlop and 8 mentions for Cathay General Bancorp. Cathay General Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat Walker & Dunlop's score of 0.92 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	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Walker & Dunlop	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Walker & Dunlop beats Cathay General Bancorp on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.