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

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.50.

A number of analysts have issued reports on HWC shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $28,005.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.9% during the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 31.0% in the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $77.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.95. 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 52-week low of $54.05 and a 52-week high of $79.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.48.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $393.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 41.07%.

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.