Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.1429.

HWC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $69.38 on Monday. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $52.93 and a twelve month high of $75.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.17.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 41.07%.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 44.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 283,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,764,000 after purchasing an additional 87,227 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at $1,169,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 26.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 348,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,850,000 after purchasing an additional 72,433 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 126,754.3% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 457,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,671,000 after buying an additional 457,583 shares during the period. Finally, Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $1,094,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.