Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.1429.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total value of $542,784.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,057,512.38. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 929.5% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 67.6% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 627 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $63.28 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $59.28 and its 200 day moving average is $59.32. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $43.90 and a twelve month high of $64.66. The stock has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.10.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $175.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.32 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 23.99%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.20%.

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.