Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from eight brokerages, with analysts predicting an average 12-month price target of $69.86.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings reported $1.49 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.43.
• The firm has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45, resulting in a 3.3% yield with a payout ratio of 32.20%.

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.8571.

HWC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $55.27 on Friday. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $43.90 and a fifty-two week high of $64.66. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $61.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 1.11.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.99% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The business had revenue of $0.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $391.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is 32.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,532 shares of the company's stock worth $10,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 5.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,016 shares of the company's stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 607,177 shares of the company's stock worth $31,846,000 after acquiring an additional 10,157 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 1st quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,027,364 shares of the company's stock worth $105,139,000 after purchasing an additional 128,860 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation operates as the financial holding company for Hancock Whitney Bank that provides traditional and online banking services to commercial, small business, and retail customers. It offers various transaction and savings deposit products consisting of brokered deposits, time deposits, and money market accounts; treasury management services, secured and unsecured loan products including revolving credit facilities, and letters of credit and similar financial guarantees; and trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, and individuals, and investment advisory and brokerage products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.