Critical Review: First Republic Bank (OTCMKTS:FRCB) & Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of First Republic Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of First Republic Bank shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Cathay General Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

First Republic Bank has a beta of 3.41, indicating that its stock price is 241% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cathay General Bancorp has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Republic Bank and Cathay General Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Republic Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cathay General Bancorp	$1.38 billion	2.98	$315.12 million	$4.85	12.69

Cathay General Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Republic Bank.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Republic Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cathay General Bancorp	23.79%	11.37%	1.38%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for First Republic Bank and Cathay General Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Republic Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
Cathay General Bancorp	1	3	1	1	2.33

Cathay General Bancorp has a consensus price target of $51.75, suggesting a potential downside of 15.89%. Given Cathay General Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cathay General Bancorp is more favorable than First Republic Bank.

Summary

Cathay General Bancorp beats First Republic Bank on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Republic Bank

As of May 1, 2023, First Republic Bank went out of business. Previously, First Republic Bank provided private banking, private business banking, and private wealth management services to clients in metropolitan areas in the United States. The company was founded in 1985 and was headquartered in San Francisco, California. First Republic Bank now trades on OTCPK.

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.