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

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.1429.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total value of $28,005.72. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Amundi purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth about $50,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 287,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,078,000 after acquiring an additional 11,551 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 951.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,494,000 after acquiring an additional 112,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $68.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $52.89 and a 1 year high of $75.43. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.82.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.04. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 21.34%.The business had revenue of $393.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.07%.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.