DA Davidson Predicts Hancock Whitney Q1 Earnings

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) – Equities researchers at DA Davidson issued their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Hancock Whitney in a research report issued on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner anticipates that the company will earn $1.24 per share for the quarter. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Hancock Whitney’s current full-year earnings is $5.16 per share.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS.

HWC has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $59.41 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.32 and its 200-day moving average is $53.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a 52 week low of $41.19 and a 52 week high of $62.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 170.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.30%.

About Hancock Whitney

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.