Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.89.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HWC. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hovde Group raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,105. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,105. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,343.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,994 shares of company stock worth $523,790 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 21,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 108,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,981,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 96.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 51,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after acquiring an additional 25,241 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,278,000 after acquiring an additional 11,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 280.5% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 16,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 12,405 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $58.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.49. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 1.25. Hancock Whitney has a 52-week low of $36.70 and a 52-week high of $61.01.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

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.