Hancock Whitney (HWC) Competitors

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

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 2.9%. 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 increased 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.

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%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, 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	$2.06B	2.59	$460.82M	$5.43	11.57
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.56	$358.68M	$5.68	13.17

Which has more volatility and risk, HWC or ABCB?

Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer HWC or ABCB?

Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus price target of $70.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.39%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus price target of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 3.58%. Given Hancock Whitney's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research 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)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Does the media refer more to HWC or ABCB?

In the previous week, Hancock Whitney had 2 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Hancock Whitney and 5 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Hancock Whitney's average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 0.63 indicating that Hancock Whitney is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hancock Whitney	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of 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, 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp 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.

Summary

Hancock Whitney beats Ameris Bancorp on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.