LendingClub (LC) Competitors

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) and Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, profitability, community ranking, risk, earnings and dividends.

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

74.1% of LendingClub shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of LendingClub shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, LC or HWC?

Hancock Whitney has higher revenue and earnings than LendingClub. Hancock Whitney is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than LendingClub, 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
LendingClub	$787.01M	1.41	$51.33M	$0.45	21.56
Hancock Whitney	$1.45B	3.14	$460.82M	$5.42	9.76

Does the media prefer LC or HWC?

In the previous week, LendingClub had 19 more articles in the media than Hancock Whitney. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for LendingClub and 12 mentions for Hancock Whitney. Hancock Whitney's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat LendingClub's score of 0.86 indicating that Hancock Whitney is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
LendingClub	16 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hancock Whitney	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, LC or HWC?

LendingClub has a beta of 2.09, suggesting that its share price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hancock Whitney has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer LC or HWC?

LendingClub received 519 more outperform votes than Hancock Whitney when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.13% of users gave LendingClub an outperform vote while only 50.38% of users gave Hancock Whitney an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
LendingClub	Outperform Votes 585 61.13%	Underperform Votes 372 38.87%
Hancock Whitney	Outperform Votes 66 50.38%	Underperform Votes 65 49.62%

Is LC or HWC more profitable?

Hancock Whitney has a net margin of 22.40% compared to LendingClub's net margin of 6.52%. Hancock Whitney's return on equity of 11.56% beat LendingClub's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LendingClub	6.52%	4.16%	0.54%
Hancock Whitney	22.40%	11.56%	1.32%

Do analysts prefer LC or HWC?

LendingClub presently has a consensus price target of $15.75, suggesting a potential upside of 62.37%. Hancock Whitney has a consensus price target of $60.56, suggesting a potential upside of 14.51%. Given LendingClub's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe LendingClub is more favorable than Hancock Whitney.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LendingClub	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88
Hancock Whitney	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89

Summary

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