Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives $56.89 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.89.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.2 %

HWC stock opened at $58.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.64. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $36.70 and a fifty-two week high of $61.01.

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

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,105. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 2.4% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 21,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 108,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,981,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 96.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 51,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after buying an additional 25,241 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,278,000 after buying an additional 11,449 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 280.5% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 16,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $775,000 after buying an additional 12,405 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.