Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) vs. Community Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:CTBI) Head to Head Analysis

Community Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:CTBI) and Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Community Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hancock Whitney has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Community Trust Bancorp and Hancock Whitney”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Trust Bancorp	$290.63 million	4.55	$98.06 million	$5.71	12.74
Hancock Whitney	$2.02 billion	3.00	$486.07 million	$4.87	15.32

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Community Trust Bancorp and Hancock Whitney, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Trust Bancorp	0	2	1	1	2.75
Hancock Whitney	0	4	4	3	2.91

Community Trust Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $68.50, suggesting a potential downside of 5.84%. Hancock Whitney has a consensus target price of $79.25, suggesting a potential upside of 6.22%. Given Hancock Whitney’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hancock Whitney is more favorable than Community Trust Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Trust Bancorp	24.85%	12.27%	1.56%
Hancock Whitney	21.34%	11.20%	1.40%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

60.2% of Community Trust Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of Community Trust Bancorp 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, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Community Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Community Trust Bancorp pays out 37.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hancock Whitney pays out 41.1% 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. Community Trust Bancorp has raised its dividend for 44 consecutive years and Hancock Whitney has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Community Trust Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

About Community Trust Bancorp

Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Trust Bank, Inc. that engages in the provision of commercial and personal banking, and trust and wealth management services to small and mid-sized communities in eastern, northeastern, central, and south-central Kentucky, as well as southern West Virginia, and northeastern Tennessee. The company accepts time and demand deposits, checking accounts, savings accounts and savings certificates, individual retirement accounts and Keogh plans, and money market accounts. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, construction, mortgage, and personal loans; lease-financing, lines of credit, revolving lines of credit, and term loans, as well as other specialized loans, including asset-based financing; residential and commercial real estate loans; and consumer loans. The company also provides cash management, renting safe deposit boxes, and funds transfer services; issues letters of credit; and acts as a trustee of personal trusts, executor of estates, trustee for employee benefit trusts, and paying agent for bond and stock issues, as well as an investment agent and depositor for securities. In addition, it offers securities brokerage services; debit cards; annuity and life insurance products; and repurchase agreements, as well as mobile, internet banking, and e-statement services. The company was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Pikeville, Kentucky.

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.