Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.1250.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on 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. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total transaction of $542,784.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 55,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,057,512.38. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 84.0% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228 shares during the period. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,335,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,044,000 after buying an additional 14,717 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 89.6% in the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 76,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,018,000 after acquiring an additional 36,200 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $63.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.63. Hancock Whitney has a 52 week low of $43.90 and a 52 week high of $67.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 32.20%.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.