Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Releases Earnings Results

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 EPS.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 2.8 %

Hancock Whitney stock traded up $1.64 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 796,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 693,909. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $41.19 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.31 and its 200 day moving average is $53.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 35.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. DA Davidson increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.