Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.1429.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $28,005.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 87,227 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth approximately $1,169,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 26.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 348,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,850,000 after buying an additional 72,433 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 126,754.3% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 457,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,671,000 after buying an additional 457,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $1,094,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $69.38 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $52.93 and a fifty-two week high of $75.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.10.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.01 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.34% and a return on equity of 11.20%. Hancock Whitney’s revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

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

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.