Analyzing Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) & Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC)

Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) and Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plumas Bancorp	26.40%	16.28%	1.86%
Cathay General Bancorp	22.76%	10.89%	1.32%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Plumas Bancorp and Cathay General Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plumas Bancorp	$112.17 million	3.27	$29.62 million	$4.54	11.61
Cathay General Bancorp	$1.38 billion	2.63	$315.12 million	$4.54	11.77

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

Risk & Volatility

Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cathay General Bancorp has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Plumas Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cathay General Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Plumas Bancorp pays out 29.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cathay General Bancorp pays out 30.0% 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. Plumas Bancorp has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.9% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Plumas Bancorp and Cathay General Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	3	0	3.00
Cathay General Bancorp	0	3	2	0	2.40

Plumas Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $55.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.29%. Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus price target of $52.50, suggesting a potential downside of 1.78%. Given Plumas Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Plumas Bancorp is more favorable than Cathay General Bancorp.

Summary

Plumas Bancorp beats Cathay General Bancorp on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises of term real estate, commercial, and industrial term loans; government-guaranteed and agricultural loans, as well as credit lines; consumer, automobile, and home equity loans; land development and construction loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company provides remote deposit, telephone and mobile banking, internet banking with bill-pay options, cashier's check, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, night depository, safe deposit box, direct deposit, electronic funds transfer, and other customary banking services. Plumas Bancorp was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

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.