Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.88.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HWC. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 target price (down from $55.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $47.83 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.33 and its 200 day moving average is $45.37. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $32.16 and a 1 year high of $49.65.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $354.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.15 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 11.89%. Equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.62, for a total transaction of $59,306.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,094,058.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.62, for a total transaction of $59,306.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,094,058.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cecil W. Knight, Jr. sold 844 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.82, for a total transaction of $39,516.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,755,029.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 35.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 155.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is 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.