Contrasting Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) and Hilltop (NYSE:HTH)

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) and Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Hilltop and Hancock Whitney’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hilltop	$1.57 billion	1.21	$109.65 million	$1.71	17.01
Hancock Whitney	$1.35 billion	2.88	$392.60 million	$4.29	10.49

Hancock Whitney has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Hilltop. Hancock Whitney is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hilltop, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Hilltop has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Hilltop and Hancock Whitney, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hilltop	0	2	0	0	2.00
Hancock Whitney	0	3	5	0	2.63

Hilltop currently has a consensus target price of $32.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.04%. Hancock Whitney has a consensus target price of $51.88, indicating a potential upside of 15.28%. Given Hancock Whitney’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hancock Whitney is more favorable than Hilltop.

Profitability

This table compares Hilltop and Hancock Whitney’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hilltop	6.95%	5.24%	0.67%
Hancock Whitney	19.07%	11.89%	1.22%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

57.1% of Hilltop shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by institutional investors. 28.9% of Hilltop shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Hilltop pays out 39.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hancock Whitney pays out 37.3% 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 is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Hancock Whitney beats Hilltop on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hilltop

Hilltop Holdings Inc. provides business and consumer banking services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment offers savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; lines and letters of credit, home improvement and equity loans, loans for purchasing and carrying securities, term, agricultural and commercial real estate, equipment loans, and other lending products; and mortgage, commercial and industrial loans, and term and construction finance. It also provides treasury management, asset management, check cards, safe deposit boxes, online banking, bill pay, and overdraft privilege services; and estate planning, management and administration, investment portfolio management, employee benefit accounts, and individual retirement accounts services, as well as automated teller machines. The Broker-Dealer segment offers public finance services that assist public entities in originating, syndicating, and distributing securities of municipalities and political subdivisions; specialized advisory and investment banking services; advice and guidance to arbitrage rebate compliance, portfolio management, and local government investment pool administration; advisory services and products for derivatives and commodities; agricultural insurance; and sells, trades in, and underwrites U.S. government and government agency bonds, corporate bonds, and municipal bonds; mortgage-backed, asset-backed, and commercial mortgage-backed securities and structured products; and provides asset and liability management advisory, clearing, retail, and securities lending services. The Mortgage Origination segment offers fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, jumbo, new construction, Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs, and United States Department of Agriculture loans. Hilltop Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation operates as the financial holding company for Hancock Whitney Bank that provides traditional and online banking services to commercial, small business, and retail customers. It offers various transaction and savings deposit products consisting of brokered deposits, time deposits, and money market accounts; treasury management services, secured and unsecured loan products including revolving credit facilities, and letters of credit and similar financial guarantees; and trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, and individuals, and investment advisory and brokerage products. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans including real and non-real estate loans; construction and land development loans; and residential mortgages, as well as consumer loans. In addition, it offers commercial finance products to middle market and corporate clients, including leases and related structures; facilitates investments in new market tax credit activities and holding certain foreclosed assets; provides customers access to fixed annuity and life insurance products; and underwriting transactions products, as well as debt and mortgage-related securities. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi.