Hancock Whitney (HWC) Competitors

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

Which has higher earnings and valuation, HWC or CFG?

Citizens Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Hancock Whitney. Hancock Whitney is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Citizens Financial Group, 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	3.24	$460.82M	$5.42	10.13
Citizens Financial Group	$7.77B	2.33	$1.51B	$3.15	13.15

Does the MarketBeat Community favor HWC or CFG?

Citizens Financial Group received 481 more outperform votes than Hancock Whitney when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.88% of users gave Citizens Financial Group an outperform vote while only 50.38% of users gave Hancock Whitney an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Hancock Whitney	Outperform Votes 66 50.38%	Underperform Votes 65 49.62%
Citizens Financial Group	Outperform Votes 547 61.88%	Underperform Votes 337 38.12%

Does the media refer more to HWC or CFG?

In the previous week, Citizens Financial Group had 2 more articles in the media than Hancock Whitney. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Citizens Financial Group and 3 mentions for Hancock Whitney. Citizens Financial Group's average media sentiment score of 1.73 beat Hancock Whitney's score of 1.61 indicating that Citizens Financial Group 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)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Citizens Financial Group	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is HWC or CFG a better dividend stock?

Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Citizens Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Hancock Whitney pays out 33.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens Financial Group pays out 53.3% 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.

Which has more risk & volatility, HWC or CFG?

Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens Financial Group has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in HWC or CFG?

81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Citizens Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Citizens Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is HWC or CFG more profitable?

Hancock Whitney has a net margin of 22.40% compared to Citizens Financial Group's net margin of 12.21%. Hancock Whitney's return on equity of 11.56% beat Citizens Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hancock Whitney	22.40%	11.56%	1.32%
Citizens Financial Group	12.21%	6.75%	0.68%

Do analysts rate HWC or CFG?

Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus price target of $61.25, suggesting a potential upside of 11.55%. Citizens Financial Group has a consensus price target of $47.89, suggesting a potential upside of 15.59%. Given Citizens Financial Group's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Citizens Financial Group is more favorable than Hancock Whitney.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hancock Whitney	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88
Citizens Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.72

Summary

Citizens Financial Group beats Hancock Whitney on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.