First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) and Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
61.2% of First Foundation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.4% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by institutional investors. 13.9% of First Foundation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares First Foundation and Hancock Whitney's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| First Foundation | 25.59% | 12.10% | 1.17% |
| Hancock Whitney | -4.01% | -1.58% | -0.17% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for First Foundation and Hancock Whitney, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| First Foundation | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Hancock Whitney | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2.71 |
First Foundation presently has a consensus price target of $20.25, suggesting a potential downside of 14.48%. Hancock Whitney has a consensus price target of $32.50, suggesting a potential downside of 20.75%. Given First Foundation's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Foundation is more favorable than Hancock Whitney.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares First Foundation and Hancock Whitney's gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| First Foundation | $290.54 million | 3.65 | $56.24 million | $1.25 | 19.02 |
| Hancock Whitney | $1.44 billion | 2.46 | $327.38 million | $4.01 | 10.23 |
Hancock Whitney has higher revenue and earnings than First Foundation. Hancock Whitney is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Foundation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
First Foundation has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.6, suggesting that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
First Foundation pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. First Foundation pays out 28.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hancock Whitney pays out 26.9% 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 Foundation has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Hancock Whitney is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Summary
First Foundation beats Hancock Whitney on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
