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

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.00.

A number of research firms have weighed in on HWC. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens raised Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $810,105. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the second quarter valued at $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter worth about $95,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of HWC opened at $54.38 on Monday. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $41.19 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.07.

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

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.