Comparing Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC) & Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) and Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Hancock Whitney and Ohio Valley Banc”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hancock Whitney	$2.02 billion	2.84	$486.07 million	$5.10	14.05
Ohio Valley Banc	$94.21 million	2.29	$15.60 million	$3.01	15.19

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.1% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Hancock Whitney shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.2% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Hancock Whitney and Ohio Valley Banc, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hancock Whitney	0	3	7	1	2.82
Ohio Valley Banc	0	0	1	0	3.00

Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus target price of $84.56, suggesting a potential upside of 18.03%. Given Hancock Whitney’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Hancock Whitney is more favorable than Ohio Valley Banc.

Dividends

Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ohio Valley Banc pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Hancock Whitney pays out 39.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ohio Valley Banc pays out 33.2% 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 increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Ohio Valley Banc has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Hancock Whitney has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ohio Valley Banc has a beta of 0.03, suggesting that its share price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hancock Whitney	21.81%	11.36%	1.41%
Ohio Valley Banc	14.31%	8.37%	0.88%

Summary

Hancock Whitney beats Ohio Valley Banc on 13 of the 17 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 Ohio Valley Banc

Ohio Valley Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Ohio Valley Bank Company that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Consumer Finance. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time, and money market accounts, as well as individual retirement accounts, demand deposits, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides various residential real estate loans, including one-to four-family residential mortgages; commercial loans for securing equipment, inventory, stock, commercial real estate, and rental property; and consumer loans secured by automobiles, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, and other personal property, as well as personal loans, unsecured credit card receivables, floor plan and student loans, and construction loans. In addition, it offers safe deposit box, wire transfer, credit card, home equity loans, and Internet banking services; and financial management online services, such as cash management and news updates related to repossession auctions, current rates, and general bank news. Further, the company provides automatic teller machines (ATMs), consumer finance, seasonal tax preparation, commercial property, and various liability insurance services, as well as trust and online-only consumer direct mortgage services. The company owns and operates ATMs, including off-site ATMs. It operates offices in Ohio and West Virginia. The company was founded in 1872 and is based in Gallipolis, Ohio.