Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Hancock Whitney, with seven buy ratings, three holds and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $83.78, above the stock’s reported $74.55 price.
• Hancock Whitney’s latest quarterly results met expectations, with earnings per share of $1.55 and revenue of $403.57 million, up 6.9% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, equal to $2.00 annually and a 2.7% yield. Institutional investors own approximately 81.22% of the company, while recent insider transactions included stock sales by an insider and the CFO.

Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $83.7778.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Hovde Group cut shares of Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 12th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $74.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day moving average is $76.35 and its 200 day moving average is $70.39. Hancock Whitney has a 52 week low of $54.05 and a 52 week high of $80.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.55. The business had revenue of $403.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $398.89 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 11.36%. Hancock Whitney's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total transaction of $381,236.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,189,166. The trade was a 24.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Achary sold 22,694 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,364,108.80. This represents a 33.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,457 shares of the company's stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 31.0% in the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.