Head-To-Head Comparison: Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) versus Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS)

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) and Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens Bancshares has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Hancock Whitney and Citizens Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hancock Whitney	0	1	7	2	3.10
Citizens Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus price target of $75.63, suggesting a potential upside of 18.55%. Given Hancock Whitney’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hancock Whitney is more favorable than Citizens Bancshares.

Profitability

This table compares Hancock Whitney and Citizens Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hancock Whitney	24.05%	11.16%	1.39%
Citizens Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hancock Whitney	$2.02 billion	2.57	$486.07 million	$5.68	11.23
Citizens Bancshares	$44.68 million	1.84	$12.88 million	N/A	N/A

Hancock Whitney has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens Bancshares.

Dividends

Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Citizens Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hancock Whitney pays out 35.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hancock Whitney has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Hancock Whitney is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of Citizens Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Hancock Whitney beats Citizens Bancshares on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Citizens Bancshares

Citizens Bancshares Corporation operates as the holding company for Citizens Trust Bank that provides various commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers checking and savings accounts; and demand and money market deposits. Its loan products include commercial, financial, and agricultural loans; loans secured by personal property, such as automobiles, marketable securities, and other titled recreational vehicles and motorcycles, as well as unsecured consumer debt; commercial real estate loans; single-family residential loans; and construction and development loans. The company also offers investment accounts and certificate of deposit account registry services. In addition, it provides merchant services, which include point of sale terminal, credit and debit card processing, electronic benefits transfer, gift card, and Internet shopping cart services; cash management services; and credit cards. Further, the company offers online and mobile banking, as well as check reorder services. Citizens Bancshares Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.