Hancock Whitney (HWC) Competitors

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Is HWC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Hancock Whitney pays out 33.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% 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 raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Hancock Whitney is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts rate HWC or ABCB?

Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus target price of $66.71, indicating a potential upside of 10.14%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential upside of 2.29%. Given Hancock Whitney's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Hancock Whitney is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hancock Whitney	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, HWC or ABCB?

Hancock Whitney has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Hancock Whitney is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameris Bancorp, 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	$1.47B	3.50	$460.82M	$5.43	11.15
Ameris Bancorp	$1.14B	4.26	$358.68M	$5.68	12.42

Does the media favor HWC or ABCB?

In the previous week, Hancock Whitney had 4 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Hancock Whitney and 7 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.03 beat Hancock Whitney's score of 0.98 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hancock Whitney	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, HWC or ABCB?

Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HWC or ABCB more profitable?

Hancock Whitney has a net margin of 23.28% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 21.46%. Hancock Whitney's return on equity of 11.21% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hancock Whitney	23.28%	11.21%	1.35%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Summary

Hancock Whitney beats Ameris Bancorp on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.