Hancock Whitney (HWC) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer ABCB or HWC?

Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $66.67, indicating a potential downside of 4.26%. Hancock Whitney has a consensus target price of $56.89, indicating a potential downside of 2.67%. Given Hancock Whitney's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Hancock Whitney is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Hancock Whitney	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has higher earnings and valuation, ABCB or HWC?

Hancock Whitney has lower revenue, but higher 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
Ameris Bancorp	$1.52B	3.16	$269.11M	$4.80	14.51
Hancock Whitney	$1.37B	3.68	$392.60M	$4.46	13.11

Does the media favor ABCB or HWC?

In the previous week, Hancock Whitney had 5 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Hancock Whitney and 5 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Hancock Whitney's average media sentiment score of 1.30 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 1.25 indicating that Hancock Whitney is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ameris Bancorp	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hancock Whitney	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or HWC?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ABCB or HWC?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ABCB or HWC?

Ameris Bancorp received 355 more outperform votes than Hancock Whitney when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.50% of users gave Ameris Bancorp an outperform vote while only 46.61% of users gave Hancock Whitney an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ameris Bancorp	Outperform Votes 410 65.50%	Underperform Votes 216 34.50%
Hancock Whitney	Outperform Votes 55 46.61%	Underperform Votes 63 53.39%

Is ABCB or HWC more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 20.08% compared to Hancock Whitney's net margin of 19.30%. Hancock Whitney's return on equity of 11.47% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	20.08%	9.18%	1.25%
Hancock Whitney	19.30%	11.47%	1.28%

Is ABCB or HWC a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 12.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hancock Whitney pays out 35.9% 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.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp and Hancock Whitney tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.