DA Davidson Expects Increased Earnings for Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson increased their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Hancock Whitney in a research report issued on Thursday, October 16th. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $5.67 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $5.64. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Hancock Whitney’s current full-year earnings is $5.53 per share.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $0.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.32 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 23.99%.During the same period last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HWC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.86.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of HWC stock opened at $56.57 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 1.11. Hancock Whitney has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $64.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total value of $542,784.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,057,512.38. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 115.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth about $281,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 5.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 15.4% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.