Hancock Whitney (HWC) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Hancock Whitney Corporation, headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi, traces its origins to 1899 with the founding of Hancock Bank. Over the decades, the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion, notably merging with New Orleans–based Whitney Holding Corporation in 2005. Today, Hancock Whitney operates as a full-service financial holding company, offering a broad array of banking and financial solutions to individual, business and institutional clients.

The company’s core business activities encompass commercial and consumer banking, treasury management, mortgage lending and wealth management services. Clients can access a variety of deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts. On the lending side, Hancock Whitney provides commercial real estate loans, equipment financing, lines of credit and small business administration financing, alongside consumer mortgage and home equity loans.

Hancock Whitney maintains a strong presence across the Gulf South region, with branches and loan production offices in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The bank has invested in digital platforms and mobile banking tools to serve clients across its footprint, enabling remote account management, online payments and cash management solutions. In addition to its banking services, the company’s wealth management division offers financial planning, investment advisory and trust services, while an insurance subsidiary provides personal and business coverage options.

Leadership at Hancock Whitney is anchored by President and Chief Executive Officer Mark A. Mullins, who brings decades of banking experience and a focus on community engagement. The board of directors includes executives with expertise in finance, risk management and regional economic development. The company emphasizes corporate citizenship through philanthropic initiatives and partnerships that support education, disaster relief and economic growth in the communities it serves.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $59.48 to $61.53
• 50-Day Range: $53.18 to $61.84
• 52-Week Range: $43.90 to $62.40
• Volume: 1.08 million shs
• Average Volume: 625,573 shs
• Market Capitalization: $5.10 billion
• P/E Ratio: 10.99
• Dividend Yield: 3.02%
• Price Target: $63.43
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Hancock Whitney Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Hancock Whitney scored higher than 91% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 134th out of 936 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.4 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Hancock Whitney has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.86, and is based on 4 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Hancock Whitney has been the subject of 5 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 2.53%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Hancock Whitney are expected to grow by 2.53% in the coming year, from $5.53 to $5.67 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Hancock Whitney is 10.99, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 25.85.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Hancock Whitney is 10.99, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 19.20.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Hancock Whitney has a P/B Ratio of 1.24. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.31% of the float of Hancock Whitney has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Hancock Whitney has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.3.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Hancock Whitney has recently increased by 5.51%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

Hancock Whitney pays a meaningful dividend of 3.02%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Hancock Whitney has only been increasing its dividend for 3 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Hancock Whitney is 33.21%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Hancock Whitney will have a dividend payout ratio of 31.75% next year. This indicates that Hancock Whitney will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 3.4 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.47

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.31% of the float of Hancock Whitney has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Hancock Whitney has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.3.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Hancock Whitney has recently increased by 5.51%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.66

News Sentiment

Hancock Whitney has a news sentiment score of 0.66. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.94 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 16 news articles for Hancock Whitney this week, compared to 6 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

3 people have searched for HWC on MarketBeat in the last 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

3 people have added Hancock Whitney to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 200% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Hancock Whitney insiders have sold 3,007.09% more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $1,297.00 in company stock and sold $40,299.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.91% of the stock of Hancock Whitney is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

81.22% of the stock of Hancock Whitney is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

HWC Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have HWC shares performed this year?

Hancock Whitney's stock was trading at $54.72 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, HWC stock has increased by 8.9% and is now trading at $59.58.

How were Hancock Whitney's earnings last quarter?

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April, 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $367.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.12 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.15% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 11.43%.
Read the conference call transcript.

Who are Hancock Whitney's major shareholders?

Hancock Whitney's top institutional investors include Wedge Capital Management L L P NC (0.05%), Chickasaw Capital Management LLC (0.04%), Moody National Bank Trust Division (0.02%) and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC (0.02%). Insiders that own company stock include John M Hairston, D Shane Loper, Cecil W Knight Jr, Michael M Achary, Christopher S Ziluca, Joseph S Exnicios, Christine L Pickering, Frank E Bertucci, Carleton Richard Wilkins, Joan Cahill Teofilo, Sonia Perez, Harry Merritt Lane III and Albert J Williams.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Hancock Whitney?

Shares of HWC stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Hancock Whitney own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Hancock Whitney investors own include NVIDIA (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Broadcom (AVGO), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Adobe (ADBE), ServiceNow (NOW) and Netflix (NFLX).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 4/15/2025
• Record date for 6/16 Dividend: 6/05/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 6/16 Dividend: 6/05/2025
• Dividend Payable: 6/16/2025
• Today: 7/13/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 7/15/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: BANKS - SOUTHEAST
• Sub-Industry: Banking
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:HWC
• CIK: 750577
• Web: www.hancockwhitney.com
• Phone: (228) 868-4000
• Fax: 228-868-4627
• Employees: 3,476
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Hancock Whitney: $63.43
• High Price Target: $70.00
• Low Price Target: $56.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +6.5%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.86
• Research Coverage: 7 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $5.42
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 10.99
• Forward P/E Ratio: 10.77
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $460.82 million
• Net Margins: 23.15%
• Pretax Margin: 28.94%
• Return on Equity: 11.43%
• Return on Assets: 1.34%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.05
• Current Ratio: 0.82
• Quick Ratio: 0.82

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $2.06 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.48
• Cash Flow: $6.04 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 9.86
• Book Value: $47.96 per share
• Price / Book: 1.24

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 85,640,000
• Free Float: 84,864,000
• Market Cap: $5.10 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.05