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

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Eleven firms give Hancock Whitney a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average 12-month price target of $84.22 versus the reported $73.09 opening price.
• Quarterly results met expectations and showed growth: Hancock Whitney reported $1.55 in EPS, matching estimates, while revenue rose 6.9% year over year to $403.57 million.
• Shareholders received a quarterly dividend: The company paid $0.50 per share, equivalent to $2.00 annually and a 2.7% yield; institutional investors own approximately 81.22% of the stock.

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities 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 target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.22.

HWC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hancock Whitney from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Hancock Whitney from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of HWC stock opened at $73.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 0.97. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $54.05 and a 1 year high of $80.13. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $75.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The company had revenue of $403.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. Hancock Whitney's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were paid 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 2.7%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael Achary sold 22,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 33.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total transaction of $381,236.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,166. The trade was a 24.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at $814,839,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,790,954 shares of the company's stock valued at $304,652,000 after purchasing an additional 21,655 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $57,463,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at $55,605,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at $52,973,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company's stock.

About Hancock Whitney

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.

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