First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) Competitors

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

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, HWC or FCNCA?

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
Hancock Whitney	$1.45B	3.65	$460.82M	$5.42	11.41
First Citizens BancShares	$14.97B	1.89	$2.78B	$174.64	12.22

Which has more volatility and risk, HWC or FCNCA?

Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Citizens BancShares has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor HWC or FCNCA?

In the previous week, First Citizens BancShares had 4 more articles in the media than Hancock Whitney. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for First Citizens BancShares and 8 mentions for Hancock Whitney. First Citizens BancShares' average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat Hancock Whitney's score of 0.77 indicating that First Citizens BancShares is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hancock Whitney	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Citizens BancShares	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of HWC or FCNCA?

81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.4% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is HWC or FCNCA more profitable?

Hancock Whitney has a net margin of 23.15% compared to First Citizens BancShares' net margin of 17.10%. First Citizens BancShares' return on equity of 11.98% beat Hancock Whitney's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hancock Whitney	23.15%	11.43%	1.34%
First Citizens BancShares	17.10%	11.98%	1.16%

Do analysts rate HWC or FCNCA?

Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus target price of $63.29, suggesting a potential upside of 2.30%. First Citizens BancShares has a consensus target price of $2,299.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.74%. Given First Citizens BancShares' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Citizens BancShares is more favorable than Hancock Whitney.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hancock Whitney	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
First Citizens BancShares	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62

Is HWC or FCNCA a better dividend stock?

Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. First Citizens BancShares pays an annual dividend of $7.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Hancock Whitney pays out 33.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Citizens BancShares pays out 4.5% 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. Hancock Whitney has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and First Citizens BancShares has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Summary

First Citizens BancShares beats Hancock Whitney on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.