Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) & Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Head-To-Head Review

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) and Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Home BancShares and Hancock Whitney”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Home BancShares	$1.48 billion	4.03	$475.44 million	$2.41	12.57
Hancock Whitney	$2.02 billion	3.04	$486.07 million	$5.68	12.95

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

67.3% of Home BancShares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.3% of Home BancShares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% 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.

Risk & Volatility

Home BancShares has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Home BancShares pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Home BancShares pays out 34.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hancock Whitney pays out 31.7% 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. Home BancShares has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Hancock Whitney has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Home BancShares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Home BancShares and Hancock Whitney, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Home BancShares	0	3	3	1	2.71
Hancock Whitney	0	1	7	2	3.10

Home BancShares currently has a consensus price target of $32.60, suggesting a potential upside of 7.59%. Hancock Whitney has a consensus price target of $75.25, suggesting a potential upside of 2.28%. Given Home BancShares’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Home BancShares is more favorable than Hancock Whitney.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Home BancShares	32.18%	11.16%	2.03%
Hancock Whitney	24.05%	11.16%	1.39%

Summary

Hancock Whitney beats Home BancShares on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Home BancShares

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) operates as the bank holding company for Centennial Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, and related financial services to businesses, real estate developers and investors, individuals, and municipalities. Its deposit products include checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company's loan portfolio comprises non-farm/non-residential real estate, construction/land development, residential mortgage, consumer, agricultural, and commercial and industrial loans. It provides internet banking, mobile banking and voice response information, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, and automatic account transfer services, as well as safe deposit boxes and the United States savings bonds. In addition, the company writes policies for commercial and personal lines of business, including insurance for property, casualty, life, health, and employee benefits. It operates through branches in Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Texas, and New York City. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Conway, Arkansas.

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.