Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $76.69 and finishing near $76.48, up modestly on the day.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $80.50, though one firm recently downgraded the stock to Hold.
• The company posted solid recent fundamentals and shareholder returns, including Q1 EPS of $1.52 versus expectations of $1.48 and a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, implying a 2.6% annual yield.

Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $76.69 and last traded at $76.4760, with a volume of 37702 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $75.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HWC shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $80.50.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.03.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.01 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 21.34%.The company's revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is 41.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total value of $28,005.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,683,432.56. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at $1,094,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $6,070,000. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth $576,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth $1,520,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at about $1,714,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hancock Whitney

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.