Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) versus First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB) Head to Head Contrast

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) and First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Cathay General Bancorp has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Northwest Bancorp has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cathay General Bancorp and First Northwest Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cathay General Bancorp	$817.89 million	4.33	$315.12 million	$4.54	11.66
First Northwest Bancorp	$68.94 million	1.37	-$4.19 million	$0.72	13.79

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

Profitability

This table compares Cathay General Bancorp and First Northwest Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cathay General Bancorp	22.76%	10.89%	1.32%
First Northwest Bancorp	5.35%	4.18%	0.30%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Cathay General Bancorp and First Northwest Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cathay General Bancorp	0	3	2	0	2.40
First Northwest Bancorp	1	2	1	0	2.00

Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $52.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.83%. First Northwest Bancorp has a consensus price target of $13.50, suggesting a potential upside of 35.95%. Given First Northwest Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Northwest Bancorp is more favorable than Cathay General Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

75.0% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.1% of First Northwest Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of First Northwest Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Cathay General Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. First Northwest Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Cathay General Bancorp pays out 33.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Northwest Bancorp pays out 38.9% 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. Cathay General Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Cathay General Bancorp beats First Northwest Bancorp on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits. It also provides loan products, such as commercial mortgage loans, commercial loans, small business administration loans, residential mortgage loans, real estate construction loans, and home equity lines of credit, as well as installment loans to individuals for household, and other consumer expenditures. In addition, the company offers trade financing, letter of credit, wire transfer, forward currency spot and forward contract, safe deposit, collection, automatic teller machine, Internet banking, investment, and other customary bank services, as well as securities and insurance products. Cathay General Bancorp was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About First Northwest Bancorp

First Northwest Bancorp operates as a bank holding company for First Fed Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations in western Washington, the United States. The company accepts various deposit instruments, including checking, money market deposit, savings, and transaction accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also originates one- to four-family mortgage loans, commercial and multi-family real estate loans, construction and land loans, and commercial business loans, as well as consumer loans primarily consisting of automobile loans, and home-equity loans and lines of credit. First Northwest Bancorp operates branch offices in Clallam, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, Washington. First Northwest Bancorp was founded in 1923 and is based in Port Angeles, Washington.