Head to Head Comparison: Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) versus Benchmark Bankshares (OTCMKTS:BMBN)

Benchmark Bankshares (OTCMKTS:BMBN) 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, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Benchmark Bankshares	23.75%	N/A	N/A
Hancock Whitney	23.99%	11.29%	1.38%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Benchmark Bankshares and Hancock Whitney, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Benchmark Bankshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
Hancock Whitney	0	1	7	1	3.00

Hancock Whitney has a consensus target price of $71.88, indicating a potential upside of 6.32%. Given Hancock Whitney’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Hancock Whitney is more favorable than Benchmark Bankshares.

Dividends

Benchmark Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.96 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 2.7%. Benchmark Bankshares pays out 22.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hancock Whitney pays out 32.2% 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 has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Benchmark Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Benchmark Bankshares and Hancock Whitney”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Benchmark Bankshares	$73.53 million	2.05	$15.85 million	$4.29	7.87
Hancock Whitney	$2.06 billion	2.75	$460.82 million	$5.59	12.09

Hancock Whitney has higher revenue and earnings than Benchmark Bankshares. Benchmark Bankshares 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

3.2% of Benchmark Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by institutional investors. 14.0% of Benchmark Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Benchmark Bankshares has a beta of 0.14, indicating that its stock price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hancock Whitney beats Benchmark Bankshares on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Benchmark Bankshares

Benchmark Bankshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Benchmark Community Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, saving, commercial services, and youth accounts. Its loan products include personal, mortgage, other real estate, business, auto, and student loans. The company also offers credit and debit cards; wealth management services comprising financial solutions, financial and retirement planning, and portfolio management, as well as estate, charitable giving, and trust services; and reorder checks, safe deposit boxes, wire transfers, bill pay, and internet and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1971 and is based in Kenbridge, Virginia.

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.