Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. (CLST) Stock

Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. (CLST) is a Financials stock trading at $17.77 (as of 2026-09-02), with a market capitalization of $71.30M and a trailing P/E of 35.2. Figures are sourced from first-party U.S. SEC EDGAR filings and market data.

Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for St. Landry Homestead Federal Savings Bank that provides banking products and services in the Acadiana region of south-central Louisiana. The company accepts various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand and NOW accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. It also offers one- to four-family residential mortgage, commercial real estate loans and multi-family residential, construction and land, commercial and industrial, and consumer loans. In addition, the company invests in various types of securities comprising mortgage-backed securities, the U.S. treasury obligations, securities of various federal agencies and of state and municipal governments, certificates of deposit at federally insured banks and savings institutions, and federal funds. It operates through six full-service branches located in Carencro, Eunice, Lafayette, Opelousas, and Port Barre. The company was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Opelousas, Louisiana.

Understand Catalyst Bancorp, Inc.: how it makes money

Catalyst Bancorp holds St. Landry Homestead Federal Savings Bank, a community lender in Acadiana, Louisiana that earns income from the spread between what it pays on deposits and what it collects on loans and securities. The entire loan book sits in one rural Louisiana submarket, with real estate and residential mortgages as the core earning assets.

Profit is the gap between a 0.8 percent cost of funds and a 3.57 percent yield on earning assets, but the book is so thin that even a 19 percent operating margin yields only about a 2 percent return on equity.

Business quality (Unprofitable): A well-capitalized micro-bank whose regional focus and tiny asset base keep equity returns near the risk-free rate despite a healthy operating margin.

Bull case

Wide structural funding spread: Average Rate on Interest-Bearing Liabilities of 0.8 percent against an Average Yield on Interest-Earning Assets of 3.57 percent gives the bank a roughly 2.8 percent net spread before provision costs, a cushion that persists even in a moderately rising-rate environment.
Capital well above requirements: Total Risk-Based Capital Ratio of 57.69 percent is far in excess of regulatory minimums, leaving room to grow the loan book, buy back shares (72,949 shares were repurchased this period), or weather an uncertain credit cycle without external funding.

Bear case

Equity returns barely clear inflation: Return on equity of 2.0 percent and a business-quality grade of "Unprofitable" signal that the combined effect of a sub-$1 billion balance sheet and a single-region footprint prevents the bank from generating a meaningful risk premium for shareholders.
No diversification runway: All originations are in the Acadiana submarket of south-central Louisiana; real estate loans of $140 million plus $80 million in residential mortgages and $30 million in construction and C&I loans give virtually no geographic or sector hedge if that one housing market softens.

Valuation — source: SEC EDGAR (first-party)
Price	$17.77
Market Cap	$71.30M
P/E Ratio	35.2
EV / EBITDA	15.0
Price / Book	0.86
Price / Sales	5.02
FCF Yield	4.3%

Profitability & Growth — source: SEC EDGAR
Revenue (TTM)	$13.90M
Net Margin	14.8%
Revenue Growth (YoY)	3.6%
EPS Growth (YoY)	7.1%
FCF Growth (YoY)	-14.2%

Valuation vs Sector & Industry
Stock P/E	35.2
Sector P/E (Financials)	14.9
Industry P/E (Banking)	12.7
vs Sector	135.8%
vs Industry	177.1%

Smart-Money Activity — SEC Form 4 / 13F / Congressional disclosures
Top Institutional Holder	STILWELL VALUE LLC ($4.68M)
Institutional Holders Tracked	10

Company
Sector	Financials
Industry	Banking
CEO	Joseph Zanco
Employees	49
Country	US
IPO Date	2021-10-13

Related Companies (Banking; 8 comparable banks)

Data as of 2026-09-02.

Figures sourced from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC EDGAR) filings and market data. Not personalized investment advice.