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 business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings and dividends.

Which has more risk and volatility, CATY or WD?

Cathay General Bancorp has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Walker & Dunlop has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership 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 endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

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 3.2%. 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 raised 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 stronger valuation & 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	2.40	$285.98M	$4.14	11.67
Walker & Dunlop	$1.19B	2.40	$108.17M	$3.24	25.92

Does the media prefer CATY or WD?

In the previous week, Cathay General Bancorp had 4 more articles in the media than Walker & Dunlop. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Cathay General Bancorp and 4 mentions for Walker & Dunlop. Walker & Dunlop's average media sentiment score of 0.46 beat Cathay General Bancorp's score of 0.40 indicating that Walker & Dunlop is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Do analysts prefer CATY or WD?

Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $50.17, indicating a potential upside of 3.84%. Walker & Dunlop has a consensus target price of $92.50, indicating a potential upside of 10.16%. Given Walker & Dunlop's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly 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)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Walker & Dunlop	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

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%

Summary

Walker & Dunlop beats Cathay General Bancorp on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.