First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) Competitors

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) and Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and earnings.

Do analysts prefer FCNCA or HWC?

First Citizens BancShares presently has a consensus price target of $2,227.69, suggesting a potential upside of 33.44%. Hancock Whitney has a consensus price target of $69.86, suggesting a potential upside of 27.11%. Given First Citizens BancShares' higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe First Citizens BancShares is more favorable than Hancock Whitney.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Citizens BancShares	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
Hancock Whitney	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in FCNCA or HWC?

78.0% of First Citizens BancShares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by institutional investors. 13.4% of First Citizens BancShares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by company 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.

Which has more risk & volatility, FCNCA or HWC?

First Citizens BancShares has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to FCNCA or HWC?

In the previous week, Hancock Whitney had 19 more articles in the media than First Citizens BancShares. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Hancock Whitney and 8 mentions for First Citizens BancShares. Hancock Whitney's average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat First Citizens BancShares' score of 0.70 indicating that Hancock Whitney is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Citizens BancShares	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hancock Whitney	9 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FCNCA or HWC more profitable?

Hancock Whitney has a net margin of 23.99% compared to First Citizens BancShares' net margin of 16.37%. First Citizens BancShares' return on equity of 11.32% beat Hancock Whitney's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Citizens BancShares	16.37%	11.32%	1.08%
Hancock Whitney	23.99%	11.29%	1.38%

Is FCNCA or HWC a better dividend stock?

First Citizens BancShares pays an annual dividend of $7.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Citizens BancShares pays out 4.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hancock Whitney pays out 32.2% 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. First Citizens BancShares has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Hancock Whitney has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, FCNCA or HWC?

First Citizens BancShares has higher revenue and earnings than Hancock Whitney. Hancock Whitney is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Citizens BancShares, 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
First Citizens BancShares	$14.97B	1.44	$2.78B	$169.46	9.85
Hancock Whitney	$2.06B	2.26	$460.82M	$5.59	9.83

Summary

Hancock Whitney beats First Citizens BancShares on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.