Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Has Average Price Target of $84.22

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $84.56.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HWC shares. Hovde Group downgraded Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total value of $381,236.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,166. This represents a 24.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Achary sold 22,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total value of $1,728,828.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,364,108.80. This represents a 33.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $814,839,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,463,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter worth $55,605,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter worth $52,973,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at $40,112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $72.72 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $75.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Hancock Whitney has a 12-month low of $54.05 and a 12-month high of $80.13. The company has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 0.97.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 21.81%.The company had revenue of $403.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $398.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 39.22%.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi, and the parent company of Hancock Whitney Bank. Founded in 1883, the bank has grown from a community banking institution in coastal Mississippi into a regional bank serving individuals, businesses and institutions across the Gulf South.

Hancock Whitney provides personal and business deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, credit and debit cards, online and mobile banking, and treasury management services.