Hancock Whitney (HWC) Competitors

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

Does the media favor CFG or HWC?

In the previous week, Citizens Financial Group had 6 more articles in the media than Hancock Whitney. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Citizens Financial Group and 18 mentions for Hancock Whitney. Hancock Whitney's average media sentiment score of 1.27 beat Citizens Financial Group's score of 0.51 indicating that Hancock Whitney is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Citizens Financial Group	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hancock Whitney	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer CFG or HWC?

Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus target price of $48.67, indicating a potential upside of 17.93%. Hancock Whitney has a consensus target price of $62.56, indicating a potential upside of 16.82%. Given Citizens Financial Group's higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Citizens Financial Group is more favorable than Hancock Whitney.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.61
Hancock Whitney	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89

Is CFG or HWC a better dividend stock?

Citizens Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Citizens Financial Group pays out 55.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hancock Whitney pays out 34.1% 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.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, CFG or HWC?

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
Citizens Financial Group	$7.79B	2.31	$1.51B	$3.03	13.62
Hancock Whitney	$1.44B	3.21	$460.82M	$5.28	10.14

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CFG or HWC?

Citizens Financial Group received 476 more outperform votes than Hancock Whitney when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.94% of users gave Citizens Financial Group an outperform vote while only 48.41% of users gave Hancock Whitney an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Citizens Financial Group	Outperform Votes 537 61.94%	Underperform Votes 330 38.06%
Hancock Whitney	Outperform Votes 61 48.41%	Underperform Votes 65 51.59%

Which has more risk and volatility, CFG or HWC?

Citizens Financial Group has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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

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

Is CFG or HWC 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
Citizens Financial Group	12.21%	6.75%	0.68%
Hancock Whitney	22.40%	11.56%	1.32%

Summary

Citizens Financial Group and Hancock Whitney tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.